Michael Swan

Canada's Immigration Minister seeks Church aid for Iraqi refugees

October 28, 2010

Iraqi refugees to Canada [images/stories/features/iraqExodus/CanadaIraqiMap.jpg]TORONTO - Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney is holding the gate open for Iraqi refugees another two years, and asking churches again for help. By extending the program aimed at Iraqi refugees, Canada could welcome another 8,000 Iraqi refugees in 2012 and 2013. They would join approximately 12,000 Iraqis who will have come to Canada between 2009 and 2011. Addressing the churches and other faith-based sponsorship agreement holders, Kenney told a Toronto news conference, “I’m asking you to get engaged. Do more. Raise more funds. Sponsor more refugees.”

Canadian Bishops push Prime Minister for national anti-poverty strategy

October 28, 2010

In an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada’s bishops are calling for the the federal government to develop a national anti-poverty strategy. CCCB [images/stories/logos/logos10/CCCB_logo.jpg]“We invite Canadians today to join us in calling on our federal government to emulate the efforts of many provincial governments and develop a national anti-poverty strategy,” said the Oct. 15 letter from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Today, most new wealth is going to those who already have more than enough. Inequality is increasing in Canada. The growing rich-poor gap is threatening the economic and political power of our middle class and our treasured participatory democracy.”

Fr. Matthews' extended stay comes to an end

October 28, 2010

Father Carl Matthews [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/mathews.jpg]Jesuit Father Carl Matthews disbelieves his own birth certificate. In February he will be 80. “So I’m way past my due date, I think,” Matthews told The Catholic Register. “I can’t get over looking at a birth certificate that I am the age that I am.” Parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in Waubaushene, on Georgian Bay in the northern reaches of the archdiocese of Toronto, said a fond farewell to their energetic pastor of the past 16 years on Oct. 23. Matthews will take up duties as chaplain for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. He will be replaced in Waubaushene by Jesuit Father Stephen LeBlanc. The former chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, former editor and publisher of The Catholic Register, former teacher and former campaigner for full funding of Catholic high schools never expected to spend much time as a parish pastor.

Abuse protocol committee wanted to build confidence in procedures

October 22, 2010

mcqueen clough [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/mcqueen_clough.jpg]TORONTO - Leaning on the expertise of six lay people, including three women, the archdiocese of Toronto has declared redress, accountability and pastoral care aren’t just words or theories but concrete realities in cases of sexual abuse. Members of the committee that worked on revising the Toronto Church’s 20-year-old sexual abuse policies told The Catholic Register the new norms represent incremental rather than radical change, and that new Church law won’t by itself make the problem go away. “I would like to say that we think the problem is solved,” said clinical psychologist Dr. Philip Dodgson of the Southdown Institute. “I’m afraid that it’s something that is part of society, not just the Church. The protocol that we’ve written up will need to be reviewed and updated as new knowledge and better procedures are acquired.”

Catholic aid for Pakistan flood relief hits $6 million

October 22, 2010

Pakistan flood [images/stories/international/international10/pakistan_flood.jpg]TORONTO - Canadian Catholics have raised more than $3 million to help flood victims in Pakistan while the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has been chosen to help deliver $2 million in extra emergency flood relief. The $3 million raised for Development and Peace by Oct. 13 is eligible for matching funds from the federal government, transforming it into $6 million worth of aid. Toronto parishes played a big part in the fund-raising drive, putting $463,000 in ShareLife’s emergency relief account in time for federal matching grants. Money has continued to trickle in after the Oct. 13 deadline, and ShareLife reported $466,113 in funds for Pakistan as of Oct. 18.

King's College keeps the Catholic in Catholic education

October 22, 2010

Kings students [images/stories/education/education10/kingsstudents.jpg]LONDON, Ont. - For those who are worried about just how Catholic Ontario’s Catholic teachers really are, fourth-year King’s University College students Kasia Surowaniec and Nicole Denomy ought to ease any anxieties. Surwaniec and Denomy are already in their third year of preparations to become Catholic teachers — and they haven’t even been to teachers’ college yet. Since their second year at university the students have been enrolled in Kings’ new Catholic Studies for Teachers program and should be among the first four graduates to complete the program this spring.

St. Anthony's celebrates a century of worship

October 14, 2010

St. Anthony’s parish [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/stanthonys.jpg]Toronto - The very first sermon ever preached at St. Anthony’s on Bloor Street West was about social justice. “The dedicatory ritual completed, Mass was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Coyle of the Church of the Holy Family. Rev. Fr. Roach preached the sermon, pointing out the relationship of the Roman Catholic Church to the social and economic problems of the day,” wrote the Empire and Mail on Sept. 25, 1922.

Veterans Affairs reaches out to homeless vets

October 14, 2010

Dion MacArthur [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/dionmacarthur.jpg]TORONTO - Veterans Affairs has come to The Good Shepherd mission in downtown Toronto looking for vets. And they’re finding them. In her first two weeks as the Veterans Affairs case worker at The Good Shepherd, Dion MacArthur had already identified 15 homeless vets ranging in age from mid-30s to mid-80s, having served Canada in missions from Afghanistan to the Second World War.

Church opposes industrial process of in vitro fertilization

October 14, 2010

In Vitro Fertilization [images/stories/misc/misc10/ivf.jpg]TORONTO - Vatican officials aren’t being churlish killjoys or displaying their fearful medieval mindset when they object to the Nobel committee giving the world’s most prestigious science prize to the inventor of in vitro fertilization, Fr. Joseph Tham told an audience of about 70 people in Toronto’s Holy Family parish Oct. 6. “It’s difficult to explain to people, Catholics included, why IVF is wrong,” said Tham. Before entering the priesthood, Tham became a medical doctor at the University of Toronto. He now teaches at Regina Apostolorum University’s school of bioethics in Rome.

Brother André’s compassionate spirit changed thousands of lives

October 9, 2010

statue of Brother André [images/stories/features/br_andre/BrAndre_statue.jpg]It is probable that Brother André would not approve of being made a saint. Or perhaps not even comprehend it. Once on a tour of the exile Quebecois towns of New England, the already famous Brother André arrived in a place where the priest and the whole French-speaking community anxiously waited. He was already known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal.” The Connecticut pastor had organized a procession and the people greeted Brother André with a great feast. The whole community turned out to pray the rosary.