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February 18, 2008
The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan by Robert D. Crews and Amin Tarzi eds. (Harvard University Press, hard cover, 430 pages, $30). If Canada is going to have a debate about what its soldiers are doing in Afghanistan, or what Canada as a country should be doing in Afghanistan, that debate need not be conducted on the basis of vague mythology.
TORONTO - When Michael Schmidt and Vanessa Nicholas got engaged they decided they wanted to symbolize their commitment ethically — with a socially and ecologically just ring.
We love to talk about peace and what it means or may mean, and yet we know how elusive the definition and the experience can actually be. I suspect that is why we look for people who embody the “reality” of peace, individuals who have given themselves over to a life of creating a culture of peace, people who understand directly the costs of peace.
February 19, 2008
Third Sunday of Lent (Year A) Feb. 24 (Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; Psalm 95; John 4:5-42) Is the Lord with me or not? A very human question — perhaps one we have asked many times. One might prod the complaining Israelites to remember all of the mighty wondrous deeds that God performed on their behalf in order to liberate them from bondage in Egypt. But people can have very short memories concerning acts of kindness, especially when God is the benefactor. What has he or she — or God — done for me lately?
TORONTO - Officials with the Toronto-based Interim newspaper are mulling over the future direction of the pro-life publication, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008.
TORONTO - Picture a flower shop window dressed with an array of plants underneath a yellow canopy overhang that reads, “The Centre.” This is how Sarah Villiger describes what to look for to people who are visiting Toronto’s Romero House for the first time.
February 21, 2008
TORONTO - On May 6 Les Soeurs des Sainte-Anne will stand up in a Toronto hotel ballroom and call the world’s largest gold producer to account. It won’t be the first time, or the last.
OTTAWA - The upcoming debate on Canada’s Afghanistan mission should work towards a constructive plan, say Canada’s Catholic bishops.
WASHINGTON - During nearly 50 years of rule, Fidel Castro had an often-stormy relationship with the Cuban Catholic Church.
It’s actually kind of surprising that the Ontario legislature’s practice of starting off the day with the Lord’s Prayer had escaped notice for so long. Most legislatures in Canada changed the custom some years back, adopting non-sectarian prayers, or moments of reflection, or something similar to reflect Canada’s evolving religious diversity.
TORONTO - World Youth Day will start sooner for newlyweds David and Gillian Kantor than for most people.
We were sitting watching his daughter’s hockey tournament (her team was winning). My friend and I had both been thinking that day about Robert Latimer, whose request for parole was not granted. Mr. Latimer’s story asks uncomfortable questions.
It’s easy to say that being in Grade 12 has been one of the best years so far in my life. But the pressure is on. Second semester is underway and the next steps are just around the corner.
TORONTO - As Christians, particularly Catholic Christians, “we live our lives between the ashes and the fire,” Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins told more than 100 Catholic businesspeople Feb. 20.
Editor's Note: This is a runner-up essay winner in the Friars’ Student Writing Award. Erin Stackhouse is a Grade 12 student at Jean Vanier Catholic High School. This is the last of six winning essays that the The Register published in the past weeks. All across the world, Christian communities experience difficulties that they are challenged to overcome. Such can only be achieved through one thing: unity. Unity within Christianity has always been of utmost importance because without it, the church would never have been able to survive from the beginning. Even in modern society, persecution still exists and unity is relied upon more than ever for the purpose of keeping the Christian faith alive. One of the most effective ways that the church can unify themselves is through prayer; it not only brings people together as a community and strengthens personal morals and beliefs, but it also provides Christians with a way through which they can influence the world they live in from day to day.
TORONTO - Toronto’s Dr. Suan Seh Foo presented Pope Benedict XVI with a portrait he had painted of the pontiff at a private audience at the Vatican last December.
RICHMOND HILL, Ont. - The York Catholic District School Board. has named a new school in Richmond Hill after internationally renowned Canadian Jean Vanier.
TORONTO - Fr. Jon Hansen and David Wangalwa sit patiently in the waiting area of the Immigration and Refugee Board appeal division office in downtown Toronto.
TORONTO - A new web-hosting company hopes to make it easier for Toronto-area Catholics to have a presence on the Internet.
February 22, 2008
I Choose God, by Chris Cuddy, Peter Ericksen (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 130 pg., $10.99). The novel I Choose God is an enjoyable read of 21 testimonies by young people about how they struggled to overcome difficult situations and find God.