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Browse › 2008 › April

April 2008

April 1

Zimbabwe anxiously awaits election results

April 1, 2008

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Anxiety is growing in Zimbabwe, where the results of March 29 elections are not yet known and the opposition has claimed a resounding victory over President Robert Mugabe, church officials say.

Making the cut

April 1, 2008

Well, I've survived the first cut to get media accreditation to observe Pope Benedict XVI during his first visit to the United States, April 15-20, 2008. Come Tuesday, April 15, when Pope Benedict arrives at Andrews Airforce Base at roughly 4 p.m., I will be present in the U.S. capital city, well briefed and prepared to report. This itself is no mean feat. Some 5,000 people applied to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for accreditation. I made it through the first cut. Now it's a bit of a waiting game to find out which of the Pope's dozen or so events I will be able to attend. The media folks at the USCCB are doing a bit of triage as they try to squeeze as many of us demanding journalists and observers into the actual space available at each venue. I pity them.

Making the cut

April 1, 2008

Well, I've survived the first cut to get media accreditation to observe Pope Benedict XVI during his first visit to the United States, April 15-20, 2008. Come Tuesday, April 15, when Pope Benedict arrives at Andrews Airforce Base at roughly 4 p.m., I will be present in the U.S. capital city, well briefed and prepared to report. This itself is no mean feat. Some 5,000 people applied to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for accreditation. I made it through the first cut. Now it's a bit of a waiting game to find out which of the Pope's dozen or so events I will be able to attend. The media folks at the USCCB are doing a bit of triage as they try to squeeze as many of us demanding journalists and observers into the actual space available at each venue. I pity them.

April 3

Catholics could hold sway in U.S. election

April 3, 2008

Catholic voters may well decide who gets to be the next president of the United States. It’s a role that by now should be fairly familiar for American Catholics.

Opposition declared winner of Zimbabwe elections

April 3, 2008

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Southern African church leaders urged Zimbabweans and their leaders to exercise restraint as results of the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections were announced.

Action demanded on mining report

April 3, 2008

OTTAWA - Catholic groups say Canada’s international reputation is jeopardized because the federal government has done nothing to ensure mining and oil and gas companies operate responsibly in developing countries.

Toronto churches take part in Earth Hour

April 3, 2008

THORNHILL, Ont. - Fifty wax candles flickered in the semi-darkness of St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Thornhill, Ont., on March 29. Aside from the candles, which congregants used to follow along in their song books, the only other light source came from a dim spotlight shining on the sanctuary’s large wooden cross.

Victory for parents

April 3, 2008

Canadian parents are likely breathing a sigh of relief over a recent decision by the Ontario Supreme Court. In the ruling by Madam Justice Cheryl Robertson released March 31, a father was acquitted of assault in an incident in which he used modest force to prevent his 15-year-old daughter from attending a drug party.

A lasting friendship from WYD

April 3, 2008

TORONTO - Over the past six years, Robert Kalisz and the Friends of Togo WYD committee have made significant steps in helping people in the tiny African nation of Togo to live a better life.

ShareLife looks to weather storm

April 3, 2008

TORONTO - The 2008 ShareLife campaign is hoping to make up lost ground on the weekend of April 12-13 when the second collection takes place for the archdiocese of Toronto’s charitable appeal.

Don't blame Poland for Nazi crimes

April 3, 2008

In his March 16 column, “Resist the culture of death,” John Bentley Mays argues that without the complicity of the local Polish population, the Nazis could not have carried out their murderous designs. The exception was Denmark, where collaboration was not forthcoming, and was actively resisted, and the Nazis could make no headway with the Holocaust, he says.

Everbody wants a piece of him

April 3, 2008

We already know tickets for one of the public events for Pope Benedict XVI are the hottest thing in town — and almost impossible to come by. But, even with as tightly scripted a schedule as there is planned for the papal visit to the United States, there's always a way to squeeze in some last-minute issues. Witness the decision made by the Vatican to include two brief visits with American Jewish leaders. The New York Times reported April 4 that two new events have been included in Benedict XVI's schedule. In Washington April 17, after holding a meeting with other religious leaders at the John Paul II Cultural Centre, he will have a quick chat in a sideroom with about 50 Jewish representatives. The Times reports that he will offer greetings for the Jewish Passoover, which starts two days later.

Everbody wants a piece of him

April 3, 2008

We already know tickets for one of the public events for Pope Benedict XVI are the hottest thing in town — and almost impossible to come by. But, even with as tightly scripted a schedule as there is planned for the papal visit to the United States, there's always a way to squeeze in some last-minute issues. Witness the decision made by the Vatican to include two brief visits with American Jewish leaders. The New York Times reported April 4 that two new events have been included in Benedict XVI's schedule. In Washington April 17, after holding a meeting with other religious leaders at the John Paul II Cultural Centre, he will have a quick chat in a sideroom with about 50 Jewish representatives. The Times reports that he will offer greetings for the Jewish Passoover, which starts two days later.

April 4

Updated Resurrection story one for the courts

April 4, 2008

TORONTO - Using her imagination and passion for the truth, Toronto-based author Claudette Francis takes the story of Christ’s resurrection to the courtroom in a fast-paced drama meant to inspire.

Learning to love

April 4, 2008

Many of us are familiar with 1 Corinthian 13, “Love is patient; love is kind…” I’ve heard the passage over and over but I have never given it much thought. I cringe when I hear the exchange of “I love you” and find it difficult to accept or to tell someone that I love them. I’m not sure if I have the capacity to love.

300 from Toronto expected at WYD 2008

April 4, 2008

TORONTO - Youth from across the archdiocese of Toronto will help to carry the Canadian banner in great numbers at this year’s World Youth Day. Up to 300 youth from across the archdiocese are expected to make the long journey to Sydney, Australia, for this year’s celebration July 15-20, according to the archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Youth.

Discovering how to be loved again

April 4, 2008

CALGARY - Colette Martinez is the proud mother of baby girl Gemma, named after St. Gemma Galgani of Italy. Yet, the innocence and beauty that Martinez sees in the face of her newborn daughter is something that was abruptly taken away from her as a young girl.

Conversion is good news

April 4, 2008

We could have predicted the outcry of Muslim clerics following the Easter Baptism of Italian journalist Magdi Allam (“Muslim writer’s public conversion upsets scholars ,” April 6).

Walk the path of love, patience, humble service

April 4, 2008

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A) April 13 (Acts 2:14, 36-41; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10) People are rightly outraged and upset when there is a grave miscarriage of justice such as a false accusation. But the most disturbing injustice of all is when an innocent person is executed.

Christ has implications in today's politics

April 4, 2008

Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw (Zondervan, 355 pages, softcover, $19.99). If Christianity isn’t radical, isn’t subversive, isn’t dangerous and can’t get you into trouble it isn’t really following Christ. The established powers of Roman-occupied Palestine tortured and killed Jesus for a reason. It wasn’t because he was a safe, earnest, harmless reformer.