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January 2008

January 3

Bhutto assassination draws papal condemnation

January 3, 2008

THRISSUR, India - Catholic leaders in Pakistan and Pope Benedict XVI condemned the assassination at an election rally of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party.

Bishops statement on Afghanistan expected soon

January 3, 2008

TORONTO - Canada’s Catholic bishops may have something to say about Canada’s role in Afghanistan before Parliament debates the issue in March.

Catholic magazine targetted in human rights complaint

January 3, 2008

TORONTO - An Edmonton resident has filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission against Catholic Insight, a small Toronto-based magazine of opinion, news and analysis.

Golden Compass banned

January 3, 2008

Despite a recommendation from its own review committee that The Golden Compass continue to be available to students in Grade 7 and above, the Halton Catholic District School Board has banned the book from all its libraries.

Lourdes and its message of hope

January 3, 2008

Editor’s note: To mark the 150th anniversary of Mary’s appearance to St. Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France, Pope Benedict XVI has authorized a special indulgence to encourage renewed holiness. Pilgrims visiting the Massabielle grotto, where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette, can receive the indulgence during the Lourdes jubilee year, which runs from Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, until Dec. 8, 2008. Pilgrims who visit any public sanctuary, shrine or other worthy place dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes may receive the indulgence Feb. 2-11. Feb. 11 is the day the first of 18 apparitions occurred and is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Feb. 2 is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The following is a reflection on the deeper meaning of the great shrine at Lourdes. There are few pilgrimage places on Earth where one can experience the mystery of the cross and the meaning of redemptive suffering at the heart of the Christian life. Lourdes is one of those places.

Muzzling religion

January 3, 2008

Outside a small circle of socially conservative Catholics, few people have heard of Catholic Insight magazine. Yet all of us — Catholic, non-Catholic, religious and nonreligious — should be concerned about its fate as it faces a complaint before the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Dufferin-Peel board adopts no-sweat policy

January 3, 2008

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - There will be no more sweating it old school in Catholic schools west of Toronto. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has passed a no-sweat policy for school uniforms, team jerseys and employee clothing.

January 4

In memory of Chiapas' massacred

January 4, 2008

TORONTO - The number of people gathered in St. Anne’s Catholic Church in downtown Toronto to commemorate the Acteal massacre in Chiapas 10 years ago was about equal to the 45 indigenous Mexicans who were shot down by a paramilitary group in 1997.

Holy Innocents remembered

January 4, 2008

TORONTO - Former U.S. president John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

Daily Mass marks Christian Unity week

January 4, 2008

TORONTO - The church has been praying for the unity of Christians for 100 years, and will keep doing so.

God’s path or the path of self?

January 4, 2008

Baptism of the Lord (Year A) Jan. 13 (Isaiah 42:1-4, 5-7; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17) The careless and loose manner with which we use the word “Spirit” in everyday speech often obscures the sense of the Spirit’s dynamism and power.

Democracy and natural law

January 4, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI told members of the International Theological Commission, in an October address, that the natural law must be the foundation of democracy, so that those in power are not given the chance to determine what is good or evil.

Two sides of the condom coin

January 4, 2008

In what came as a shock to some, U.S. First Lady Laura Bush promoted condom use “every time” in the pages of the Washington Post on Dec. 1. Writing on World AIDS Day, Bush urged: “Practise safe sex,” and advocated the “correct and consistent use of condoms” which, she said, “means not just occasionally, but every time.”

When children are off to school

January 4, 2008

I didn’t run the dishwasher today. Surprisingly, Veridian Electric didn’t come to the door to congratulate me for cutting down from three times a day most of last summer. Nobody left the porch light on all night, either.

Kenyan bishops appeal for dialogue to resolve violence

January 4, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya - Following days of violence and death after the announcement of disputed election results, Kenya's Catholic bishops appealed to political leaders to make every effort to engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis.

January 7

Pope appeals for end to Kenyan violence

January 7, 2008

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI appealed for an immediate end to ethnic violence in Kenya and called on political leaders to resolve the conflict there through "dialogue and democratic debate."

January 10

Still hope Pope will attend Eucharistic Congress

January 10, 2008

OTTAWA - Hope remains alive that Pope Benedict XVI will attend the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City in June, despite evidence his travel calendar is filling up.

It will cost us

January 10, 2008

The report released Jan. 8 by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy is no more or less gloomy than the many other reports being issued these days by organizations given the task of assessing how real the crisis over greenhouse gases actually is and what should be done about it. Unfortunately, few political parties in Canada, with the possible exception of the tiny Green Party, appear ready to really grasp the nettle.

Community for all in housing developments

January 10, 2008

For many people in the earthly city, the first of January marked the end of the gift-giving season. The exchange of holiday presents was over, and the last chance to make a charitable donation for 2007 had passed.

Through the Holy Spirit unity is achieved

January 10, 2008

This January we mark 100 years of prayer for Christian unity. Fr. Paul Wattson, co-founder with Lurana Mary White of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, had their attention repeatedly drawn to a particular verse in the Gospel of John: “That all may be one . . . that the world may believe” (17:21).