Michael Swan

Federal cuts threaten Toronto immigration agencies, Liberals say

December 23, 2010

TORONTO - Toronto agencies that teach new immigrants English and help them find their first job in Canada will be forced to close their doors or significantly curtail services to accommodate a $53-million nationwide cut in funding, say local Liberal MPs. This could mean churches and other community groups may have to take up the slack and provide these services on an ad hoc, volunteer basis, Toronto Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy told The Catholic Register. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the CBC cuts to Toronto settlement agencies are necessary because Toronto is now receiving fewer immigrants, as the share of immigrants landing in the western and Atlantic provinces increases.

Ecumenism a ‘priority,’ Ontario bishops say

December 23, 2010

Fr. Damien MacPherson [images/stories/faith/faith10/fr_damien.jpg]TORONTO - Ontario’s Catholic ecumenical officers are delivering a wake up call to parishes across the province in January. In a 400-word letter to priests, deacons, religious and laity, Ontario’s dozen directors of ecumenical and interfaith affairs are reminding parish leadership that “it remains an essential priority to stay focused on the common pursuit of the unity of all Christians.”

St. Jerome's new VP no stranger to campus

December 22, 2010

St. Jerome's Univerity [images/stories/education/education10/st_jermome_uni.jpg]St. Jerome’s University’s new vice-president and academic dean is lined up to take over July 1, but he isn’t really new to the Catholic liberal arts college at the University of Waterloo. James S. Frank attended St. Jerome’s High School as a teenager, was a member of the St. Jerome’s University Catholic Community for 36 years, was married to his wife Jackie by one of his priest-professors while studying at St. Jerome’s and helped initiate the children’s Sunday school program when his own kids were attending church at the university in the 1980s.

Maltese creativity for the nativity

December 22, 2010

Anthony Camilleri [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/camilleribest.jpg]TORONTO - There’s no mention of a donkey loaded with pomegranates, windmills or a group of musicians playing the zaqq, the tanbur and the safzava in Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus. But for the Maltese it just wouldn’t be Christmas without them. Traditional Maltese Christmas nativity scenes, called presepju, contain all these Maltese elements and more. At Toronto’s Maltese parish, St. Paul the Apostle, the Maltese tradition is on display in a big way.

Old City Hall creche vandalized for sixth year straight

December 10, 2010

creche vandalized [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/crechecrushed.jpg]TORONTO - For the sixth year in a row, vandals have taken a shot at the Christmas creche in front of Old City Hall in downtown Toronto. Passersby noticed the plexiglass window which encases the statues of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus had been smashed on Dec. 5. Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Coalition's Catholic wing was preparing to replace the broken pane on Dec. 8.

Photographer-priest makes viewer present in Dene land

December 9, 2010

Way Down North [images/stories/books/waydownnorthfinal.jpg]What makes Fr. René Fumoleau’s photography worth looking at is just where the missionary priest from France took his photos. Fumoleau showed up in the Dene lands straddling the Arctic Circle in 1953. He bought his first Pentax 35 mm camera in 1956. Without training or direction, he created a body of images that document the land and its people over 40 critical years of history for the Dene, all captured in a new book.

Catholics step up response to Iraqi Christian refugee crisis

December 9, 2010

Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/collins_hetu.jpg]TORONTO - Spurred by the exodus of Iraqi Christians, the archdiocese of Toronto doubled the number of Iraqi refugee families it sponsored in 2010 to 190. The boom in Iraqi refugee sponsorships was fueled by 40 new refugee sponsorship committees or initiatives aimed at rescuing Iraqi refugees. The Office of Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto is currently handling sponsorship files for approximately 250 refugees from around the world.

Inter-faith dialogue pioneer Rabbi Erwin Schild honoured

December 2, 2010

Rabbi Schild [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/schild.jpg]TORONTO - Christian-Jewish dialogue isn’t just about Christians and Jews. It’s about how human beings should conduct themselves, how we secure a future of peace, how we know God and how we repair the world, said one of the pioneers of religious dialogue in Canada. Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Toronto, along with the Canadian Jewish Congress, put on a gala dinner to honour Rabbi Erwin Schild and his wife Laura Schild at the Liberty Grand banquet hall in Toronto Nov. 24. Bishops, rabbis, reverend doctors and theologians were among those gathered to honour him

Blair, Hitchens face off over religion in Toronto debate

December 1, 2010

Blair Hitchens [images/stories/canada/canada10/blairhitchens.jpg]TORONTO - Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens duked it out to a draw in the biggest public debate on religion ever held in Toronto Nov. 26. At the start of the evening, 22 per cent of the sold-out crowd at Roy Thomson Hall were in favour of Blair’s proposition that religion is a force for good in the world. Fifty-seven per cent thought religion was a force for ill and 21 per cent were undecided. Before the debate, fully 75 per cent of the live audience claimed they were open to changing their mind.

Green church program aims at environmental awareness

November 25, 2010

Green Churches [images/stories/canada/canada10/greenchurch.jpg]TORONTO - More help is being offered to churches that want to do something about climate change. The Montreal-based Canadian Centre for Ecumenism has launched the Green Church program to advise churches on ways to reduce their carbon footprint and lower heating bills. Joined with Toronto-based Greening Sacred Spaces, Green Church will offer certification to churches that achieve a high level of environmental awareness and act on it starting in April 2011.