Michael Swan

Euthanasia snub led to Canadian withdrawal from the World Medical Association, doctor says

October 18, 2018

Canada’s sudden withdrawal from the World Medical Association is likely due to a Canadian delegation feeling wounded and angry after their proposal to alter the world body’s code of ethics on euthanasia was resoundingly rejected, according to a Canadian doctor.

Fr. Patrick Desbois warns of growing anti-Semitism in Europe

October 18, 2018

Electoral successes for the ultra-right across Europe is being accompanied by a frightening rise in attacks on Jews, while left wing parties give ethical cover to anti-Semites with constant criticism of Israel, Fr. Patrick Desbois said at an event hosted by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre Oct. 15.

New Basilian superior general faces tough challenges

October 15, 2018

As lofty and august as the title superior general may sound, Basilian Fr. Kevin Storey has no illusions about his next four years leading 154 men who teach and preach in Basilian parishes, universities and high schools from Colombia to Canada.

Mass to End Women Abuse sends strong message, CFS Toronto says

October 14, 2018

About one-third of the work at Catholic Family Services of Toronto starts with a woman who has been abused.

Canada falls short in palliative care access

October 12, 2018

A grim picture of Canadians dying amid the noise and bustle of hospital acute care wards, unable to access quality palliative care, emerges from the first-ever comprehensive, national assessment of palliative care by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Jean Vanier offers a life lesson in his memoir

October 10, 2018

At 90, Jean Vanier is something more than an eminent man of great accomplishment, more than a national treasure who belongs to the Order of Canada, the Order of Quebec, France’s Legion of Honour and holds the 2015 Templeton Prize.

Jesuit’s passion is written in the stars

October 9, 2018

For most scientists, the next move after completing a PhD at Princeton University is to join an important research project at a big, prestigious university or institute. Adam Hincks took his advanced degree and experience in scientific cosmology and joined a group that has been investigating the universe for 500 years — the Jesuits.

Anthropocene at AGO: Exploring the stark reality of man’s footprint on the planet — scars and all

October 9, 2018

Looking at the cathedral-scale art by one of the world’s foremost photographers, theologian Dennis Patrick O’Hara said, “Yes, it’s awesome and it’s awful.”

Canada’s Salvadoran community unites to celebrate Romero

October 9, 2018

It’s a nine-hour flight from Toronto to Vatican City. It’s seven hours by jet to El Salvador. But Msgr. Oscar Romero’s canonization on Oct. 14 will not be a distant event for many Catholics.

Assisted suicide plans for children unveiled at Toronto's Sick Kids hospital

October 4, 2018

TORONTO – In a prestigious medical journal, doctors from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children have laid out policies and procedures for administering medically assisted death to children, including scenarios where the parents would not be informed until after the child dies.