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October 2007

October 12

Toronto pilgrims sought for Eucharistic Congress

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - The archdiocese of Toronto is reaching beyond its parishes to invite all area Catholics to join its pilgrimage to the International Eucharistic Congress in June 2008 in Quebec City.

A child's-eye view of God

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - Students and staff at St. Marcellus Catholic Elementary School celebrated the book launch of Becoming a Child.... while thinking about God! on Sept. 27 in their school auditorium.

Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Canada 50 years

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - Few people would think there is any connection between 21st-century Toronto and the 11th-century Crusades. Yet on Oct. 4, a group of close to 100 men and women gathered to celebrate just such a link.

Shedding multi-faith light on Abraham

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - Abraham’s star has certainly risen since jumbo jets slammed into the World Trade Centre towers in New York City, Sept. 11, 2001. Interfaith dialogues acquired a sense of urgency at the dawn of the new century, and such dialogues almost always begin by holding up Abraham as the common ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Fixing what’s wrong by starting with what’s right

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - If you’ve ever wondered what’s wrong with you, don’t ask Dr. Wayne Hammond. A clinical psychologist with a master of divinity degree, he probably knows — but he won’t tell you.

Christian voice can be heard

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - If they were not vowed to poverty, chastity and obedience most members of the Canadian Religious Conference’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation network would be retired, smiling, pleasant, mild-mannered grandparents.

Good vs. evil dilemma

October 12, 2007

Pain. Loss. Injustice. In these situations some common questions we ask are: What is the cause of my misery? Why do corrupt people seem to gain the greatest rewards like success and wealth, while practising Christians appear to suffer?

Youth party in parish parking lot

October 12, 2007

WOODBRIDGE, Ont. - The St. Margaret Mary Church parking lot was abuzz with activity during the first ever day-long Youth Festival in September hosted by the parish’s youth group.

York chaplaincy creates family atmosphere

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - In a corner of the seemingly far-removed fourth floor of York University’s Student Centre lies a precious and sacred gem known as the Catholic Chaplaincy at York University (CCY). It’s a site that is a second home for many a student at York.

Documentary explores new style of mother-daughter relationship

October 12, 2007

TORONTO - Mothers moving in with their adult daughters is the focus of a TVOntario documentary being filmed.

Possibilities, dangers of Islam’s rise in Europe

October 12, 2007

God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe’s Religious Crisis by Philip Jenkins (Oxford University Press, 340 pages, hardcover $31.95). They thought he was a cranky crackpot in his time, but Hillaire Belloc’s 1938 prophecy has come back to haunt Europe today: “Anyone with a knowledge of history is bound to ask himself whether we shall not see in the future a revival of Mohammedan political power, and the renewal of the old pressure of Islam upon Christendom.”

Peace in space

October 12, 2007

OTTAWA - In 1957, during the deepening Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, a basketball-sized satellite that orbited the earth every 98 minutes.

Catholic-Anglican text encourages realism over divisions

October 12, 2007

VATICAN CITY - Anglicans and Roman Catholics should witness to the faith they share and work together to promote Christian values in the world, but they also must be realistic about issues still dividing them, said a recent document by Anglican and Catholic bishops.

Our common front: end homelessness

October 12, 2007

Prior to the 2006 federal election, Faith Today, the magazine of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, published the response of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a question it had put to him: “What role do you think faith should play in developing public policy, and what is the place of religious institutions in contemporary Canadian society?”

The nature of Catholic education

October 12, 2007

There has been in recent weeks much focus and discussion on Ontario’s strong publicly funded school system. Catholic schools are an integral part of that system, supported by 2.4 million Catholic ratepayers and the province’s three major political parties.

We need more joy

October 12, 2007

In many of his homilies and speeches since coming to Toronto, Archbishop Thomas Collins has returned time and again to the theme of joy. It is an attribute implicit to being Christian, yet it is all too rare in practice.

October 15

Survival of Catholic education faces new challenge

October 15, 2007

On Oct. 10, Ontario brought a bruising provincial election campaign to a close. On Oct. 11, Ontario Catholics faced the beginning of what could be an even more wounding battle over the very existence of their publicly funded schools.

October 16

Canadian Jewish leaders condemn meeting with Iran president

October 16, 2007

OTTAWA - Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) executive director Karen Hamilton grilled the Iranian president during a recent meeting in New York, telling him his threats to wipe Israel off the face of the map were “unacceptable.”

October 17

Pope names 23 new cardinals

October 17, 2007

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI named 23 new cardinals at the end of his weekly general audience Oct. 17 and said he would formally install the cardinals during a special consistory at the Vatican Nov. 24.

October 18

Two new bishops for Atlantic Canada

October 18, 2007

Two major Roman Catholic dioceses in Atlantic Canada have new bishops, courtesy of Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope announced the appointments Oct. 17 at the Vatican.