Browse › 2007 › January

January 2007

January 26

New archbishop has heavy schedule in first weeks

January 26, 2007

TORONTO - Archbishop Thomas Collins, Toronto's new shepherd, will be hosting numerous Masses and related events throughout the archdiocese upon his arrival in Toronto beginning Jan. 28 and running through Feb. 20.

St. Francis Table honours volunteers for 20th anniversary

January 26, 2007

TORONTO - St. Francis Table celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In honour of the celebration it will hold an appreciation luncheon Feb. 12 for all schools and people who have volunteered with the organization.

Why I pray the rosary

January 26, 2007

At Mass, I often listen to people as they say the Our Father and the Apostles' Creed, wondering whether they ever stop to think about what those words mean. It's funny how you can recite prayers without paying attention to the important words you say. Sometimes when saying repetitive prayers like the rosary, I find myself just going through the motions, either because I'm worried about school or just not focusing, so I stop myself and consciously reflect.

FRIARS ESSAY: Practise what Christ preaches

January 26, 2007

Editor's Note: this is the second place winner of the Friars' Student Writing Award sponsored by Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and The Catholic Register. Gregory Drozdzal, 16, is a Grade 11 student at St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto. The contest is held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Over the coming weeks, we will publish all six winning essays.

Protests shut down lecture series on Muslim threat

January 26, 2007

WINDSOR, Ont. - A professor at Assumption University here was among those leading opposition to a controversial lecture series at Windsor's Campbell Baptist Church which depicted Islam as a religion of evil and a threat to Canadian values.

Stay connected with elder in retirement setting

January 26, 2007

One of my husband's aunts moved to a nursing home a while ago, due to her fluctuating health status and declining ability to care for herself. Although she'd exhausted other options, she was extremely unhappy about the situation and initially our visits there were strained. But my husband and I persisted and gradually found ways to make interactions with her enjoyable again.

Mixed reviews from Catholic observers on Liberal leader Dion

January 26, 2007

Stephane Dion [images/stories/canada_people/dion.jpg]OTTAWA - The new Liberal leader Stéphane Dion gets mixed reviews from Catholic observers who like his stress on a sustainable environment and social justice but raise concerns about his highly individualistic notion of rights. That approach could mean clashes down the road with group rights, especially those of families, religions and nationalities, they say.

Giller Award winner has sense of service

January 26, 2007

dr. lam [images/stories/arts/lam.jpg]TORONTO - One gets the sense from reading selections from Dr. Vincent Lam's Scotiabank-Giller Prize-winning new collection, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, that the author would have made an excellent reporter had his time not already been taken up with medicine and fiction writing.

Pope seeks legal recognition for church in Turkey

January 26, 2007

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI asked the government of Turkey to grant full legal recognition to the Catholic Church and to establish a formal dialogue with the nation's Catholic bishops to work out concrete problems.

Orienting ourselves to God

January 26, 2007

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Feb. 4 (Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthian 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11) The readings from Isaiah and Luke illustrate the ambiguous attitude many people have towards the sacred and the holy. On the one hand, we claim that we yearn for God's presence, and we complain that God seems so distant. But on the other hand, we are petrified at the thought of an encounter with the divine or holy.

Useful suffering

January 26, 2007

Every year in February, the Catholic Church marks the special place it holds in its heart for the sick, the suffering, the dying. The World Day of the Sick, held this year on Feb. 11, draws our attention to Christ's own compassion during His years on earth for those needing physical healing.

Healing is always possible

January 26, 2007

When Dave waved hello I thought, as usual, what a strong, friendly face he has. Today, those good looks were obscured by haggard gray gauntness, somewhat incongruous under the curly hair and jaunty boyish cap. He asked me how I was, flicked his cigarette, and nodded: "I'm OK. I'm back on drugs, but it's all good."

January 29

Toxic knowledge or needed information?

January 29, 2007

As of Feb. 1 the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada and its equivalent in the United States will recommend that the rules on the use of amniocentesis change. It is the primary test used to discover if a fetus is afflicted with Down Syndrome and a number of other genetic disorders.

BOOK REVIEW: All we are saying is give faith a chance

January 29, 2007

God at Work [images/stories/books/0195314808.jpg]God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement by David W. Miller (Oxford University Press, 222 pages, hardcover, $38.95). In God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, David W. Miller commits "to recognize the faith at work movement as a movement; to understand its roots and historical trajectory leading to its current form and substance; to offer a framework and language to analyse it, challenge it and assist it to realize its significant social possibilities; and to raise questions for further research." This is a tall order.

Carleton pro-life group is granted club status

January 29, 2007

OTTAWA - Carleton Lifeline, a pro-life group at Ottawa's Carleton University, has been granted club status on campus despite a constitutional amendment banning "anti-choice" groups and actions approved by the student union in December.

D&P rethinks its ways

January 29, 2007

The financial challenge in front of Canada's Catholic development agency runs deeper than money. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is asking whether Catholics really believe in what the 40-year-old agency does.

Play asks the ethical questions that need to be asked

January 29, 2007

Theatre review: Chimera Chimera is an engaging play about a topic which is rarely dealt with in theatre. For that reason alone it is well worth seeing, but it is also well acted and well staged, thought provoking and topical.

Wielgus denies he failed to disclose collaboration

January 29, 2007

wielgus [images/stories/international_people/wielgus5.jpg]WARSAW, Poland - The Polish archbishop who resigned after admitting he collaborated with his country's communist secret police denied claims that he failed to inform the Pope about his past.

Love and grace reach out to wherever there is need

January 29, 2007

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Jan. 28 (Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; Psalm 71; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30) Where do visionaries, reformers and prophets get their courage and perseverance? Their diaries and writings often reveal that they are quite ordinary people, with all the fears and weaknesses that are part of humanity. Many of them struggle with self-doubt, loneliness and fear. And yet they go on — they stand up for justice and compassion despite the opposition of the world and often their own co-religionists.

Anything goes now

January 29, 2007

Five-year-old D. — in the brave new world parlance of the Ontario Court of Appeal — has "two mums." He has three parents: B., his biological father; C., his birth mother; and A., his mother's lesbian partner. Two parents are enough for most of us, sometimes more than enough; but thanks to the wisdom of our judges, D. now has three parents.