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October 2006

October 3

Ryan and Jimmy tell their story together

October 3, 2006

Jimmy Akana and Ryan Hreljac [images/stories/canada/ryanjimmy.jpg] TORONTO - Ryan Hreljac stands a lanky six feet, four inches tall with a head full of scruffy, dirty blonde hair that could easily sweep the top of most door frames if he didn't bother to duck. But perhaps it's about time this 15-year-old's height caught up with the size of his heart.

Archbishop Pius Ncube: A lonely struggle against tyranny

October 3, 2006

Archbishop Pius Ncube [images/stories/international_people/ncube_archbishop.jpg]OTTAWA - Long a thorn in the side of Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo — the African nation's second largest city — is showing no signs of relenting in his campaign to remove Mugabe from power.

October 5

Patriarch looking forward to papal visit

October 5, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/Benedict%20HS.jpg]ISTANBUL, Turkey - Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Benedict XVI's November trip to Turkey will help calm recent tensions with Islam and advance his church's struggle for religious rights.

Legislation aims to protect religious from same-sex challenges

October 5, 2006

TORONTO - The federal government is planning to introduce a Defence of Religions Act to protect from legal harassment those who challenge same-sex marriage or refuse to participate in such ceremonies. The Globe and Mail reported Oct. 4 that the federal Justice Minister Vic Toews is preparing such legislation in case the House of Commons rejects a motion to reopen the debate over the legal definition of marriage.

Slovak cathedral loses its status

October 5, 2006

Cathedral of the Transfiguration, Unionville, Ontario [images/stories/toronto/slovakcathedral.jpg]TORONTO - One of Canada's most architecturally impressive and ambitious cathedrals is no longer a cathedral. Eparch John Pazak, spiritual head of Byzantine rite Slovak Catholics in Canada, has removed the blessed sacrament and the antimension, or altar stone, from the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, a giant gold-domed church on the edge of Unionville, north of Toronto.

Homeless an election issue

October 5, 2006

TORONTO - As Toronto's homeless face another winter on the streets and in the shelters, their fate is again an election issue.

Real world rebel

October 5, 2006

Last year I decided to leave my Catholic high school for a public school to take advanced placement courses. I figured academically a public school could open more doors for me than my little Catholic school. The only reason I attended St. Thomas Aquinas high school in North Vancouver was for the religion.

Pro-life students fight for free speech

October 5, 2006

TORONTO - Pro-life groups on university and college campuses in Canada are struggling to gain official club status.

October 6

How the New Testament was created

October 6, 2006

[images/stories/features/scribe.png]Catholics the world over are familiar with the New Testament, that portion of the Bible that speaks of a new covenant with God as represented through the life and death of Jesus. But the selection and acceptance of the writings that make up the New Testament formed a complex and highly controversial process that was still being debated within the church 400 years after the birth of Christ.

True 'wisdom figures' reflect God's truth

October 6, 2006

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B), Oct. 15 (Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30) Who are the "wisdom figures" of our culture? Genuine wisdom figures are not those who have all the answers or possess the truth. Rather, wise people are those who have mastered the art of living as an authentic human being.

Double standards abound

October 6, 2006

I am always amazed and saddened how newspaper columnists who preface their remarks by stating they "are not Catholics" but are quick to criticize the Pope for what he may or may not do, and then proceed to tell him what he should do.

Foul language has become the patois of modern times

October 6, 2006

Last week, I went to see director Neil Burger's seductively charming (and faintly sinister) new film The Illusionist. The story has to do with a young magician (excellent Edward Norton) in Vienna, circa 1900, who falls in love with a titled aristocrat (Jessica Biel), much to the annoyance of the lady's suitor, the Austrian crown prince (Rufus Sewell). This tale is intriguing and the photography is sumptuous — though that's not why I am bringing up the film now.

It was no gaffe

October 6, 2006

The immediate furor in the Islamic world over Pope Benedict's University of Regensburg speech has abated, thanks largely to the Vatican's efforts to reassure Muslims that nothing has changed in the Catholic Church's attitude toward Islam. What continues, however, is the universal media characterization of the Pope's reference to Islam and violence — The Quote — as a gaffe.

October 11

How much tolerance can we tolerate?

October 11, 2006

Benedict HS [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/Benedict%20HS.jpg]Pope Benedict XVI told the Ontario bishops during their September ad limina visit to the Vatican, that, "In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children."

October 13

Sinfulness can lead to culture of blame

October 13, 2006

Pope Benedict II [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/benedicths2.jpg]VATICAN CITY - When individuals lose sight of their own sinfulness, it is impossible to promote real reconciliation and establish true justice in society, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Western Canada.

Freedom sought outside God is always a negative

October 13, 2006

Pope Benedict II [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/popeBenedict2.jpg]Editor’s note: The following is the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops of Western Canada during their ad limina visit to the Vatican Oct. 9. “We should celebrate and rejoice. . . he has come to life; he was lost and is found” (Lk 15:32). With fraternal affection I warmly welcome you, the bishops of the Western Catholic Conference of Canada, and I thank Bishop (Gerald) Wiesner for the good wishes offered on your behalf. I warmly reciprocate them and assure you, and those entrusted to your pastoral care, of my prayers and solicitude. Your meeting with the successor of Peter concludes the visits ad limina Apostolorum of the Canadian bishops’ conference. Notwithstanding the increasingly secular climate within which you serve, your reports contain much from which you can draw encouragement. In particular, I have been heartened to note the zeal and generosity of your priests, the selfless dedication of the religious present in your dioceses and the increasing readiness among the laity to embolden their witness to Christ’s truth and love in their homes, schools, places of work and in the public sphere.

Sr. Moran invested into the Order of Canada

October 13, 2006

OTTAWA - At a ceremony at Rideau Hall Oct. 6, Sr. Susan Moran became a Member of the Order of Canada for her work among the homeless and disenfranchised in the Toronto area. “I’m here because of all the beautiful, suffering people who are now my sisters and brothers,” Moran said in an interview following the ceremony. “It is through them that I’ve learned such love and compassion.”

N.S. Sunday shopping ban overturned

October 13, 2006

TRURO, N.S. - Nova Scotians now have the option to shop on Sundays as of Thanksgiving weekend.

Quebec conundrum

October 13, 2006

Being a Catholic in Quebec is definitely not easy, but being a young Catholic in Quebec is even harder — or at least that’s how it seems. As a young practising Catholic, I can honestly say that I’ve struggled to maintain my faith.

The time to disarm is now

October 13, 2006

Douglas Roche [images/stories/canada_people/Roche.jpg]Editor’s note: The following address was presented by retired Canadian senator Douglas Roche, a noted author and veteran advocate for nuclear disarmament from Edmonton. It was given at the Lauriston Jesuit Centre for Social Justice in Edinburgh on Oct. 3. Roche, whose most recent book is The Human Right to Peace (Novalis, 2003), was also welcomed at the Scottish Parliament along with Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien and other church leaders and members of Parliament. The visit was facilitated by Pax Christi. A time traveller from the Cold War would find it astonishing that nuclear weapons are still very much part of the global landscape. The opportunity that arose at the end of the Cold War in 1989 to get rid of nuclear weapons was squandered. Today, there are still 27,000 nuclear weapons held by eight states which together comprise almost half of humanity.