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June 2008

June 3

Nine ordained to permanent diaconate

June 3, 2008

TORONTO - As Jesus was asked by the Father to live a life of service, so too have the nine men ordained to the permanent diaconate May 31 been asked to dedicate their lives to serving the Lord.

June 4

Archbishop chastises Toronto Catholic trustees

June 4, 2008

Editor's note: the following is a letter dated May 27 from Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins to the trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Dear Trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Brothers and Sisters in Christ: One evening not long ago I joined a gathering of devoted Catholic educators in the room where you deliberate, to celebrate the publication of Dr. Robert Dixon's new history of Catholic education in Toronto, We Remember, We Believe. It is a story of many difficulties, but also of the dedication, competence and self-sacrifice of the religious sisters and brothers, and of the laity and clergy who for over 160 years developed Catholic education in our community. We have much of which we can be proud in the past and in the present.

Ontario takes control of Toronto Catholic school board

June 4, 2008

TORONTO - The province has taken over Toronto's Catholic school board. Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne appointed Norbert Hartmann supervisor responsible for the day-to-day operations and finances of the troubled board Wednesday morning, June 4.

June 5

Attempts to ordain women means instant excommunication

June 5, 2008

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation has decreed formally that a woman who attempts to be ordained a Catholic priest and the person attempting to ordain her are automatically excommunicated.

Campus pro-life ban curbs free speech

June 5, 2008

TORONTO - A student government decision to ban support for anti-choice clubs on campus at Toronto’s York University has left many Catholic and pro-life groups fearing they will be shut out of campus life.

Matercare takes aim at women's health in Africa

June 5, 2008

TORONTO - In Sierra Leone and Kenya, women die from child birth or related complications on a weekly basis. But Dr. Robert Walley, president of Matercare International, hopes to change that by raising $5.5 million to equip both countries with the specialized services women need.

Continued generosity needed for Holy Land

June 5, 2008

TORONTO - Cardinal John Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, has urged a group of North American members of one of the Catholic Church’s oldest chivalric orders to be generous in their help to the inhabitants of the Holy Land.

From boys to men

June 5, 2008

The Jesuits used to claim that if they could take charge of a boy’s education at age seven, they would turn out a fine mature man ready to serve God and country. Today, as we celebrate this Father’s Day, in much of industrialized society, the boys are still there, but the men are increasingly missing in action.

June 6

Enjoying the gift of reading

June 6, 2008

The ability to read is generally taken for granted among today’s youth. For many it is seen as a labourious, lengthy, unexciting task that, when rivalled with television, computers and movies, fails magnificently in terms of gratification. To some it is an archaic pastime.

Youth outreach team begins in St. Boniface

June 6, 2008

There’s a new youth evangelization training program springing up out of Manitoba. The organizers, who are still accepting applications for the fall, said it includes components that liken it to other evangelization ministries like Catholic Christian Outreach and National Evangelization Team (NET) Ministries, but with distinct elements. “It’s a bit different in that the team will see what goes into the part of a youth minister,” said organizer Jude Gosselin. “People who’ve been on the team will have seen all the aspects of it and will be hireable as youth ministers.”

Quebec's spiritual void its biggest problem

June 6, 2008

TORONTO - Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who last year sparked controversy with his remarks about religion in Quebec society, said Catholics “need some more militance” to reaffirm “the values of our Catholic tradition in Quebec.”

When the extroverts struggle with faith

June 6, 2008

Spirituality For Extroverts by Nancy Reeves (Abingdon Press, softcover, 155 pages, $10.99). As an introvert, I’ve always carried the unexamined bias that religion is largely the domain of introverts. Of course this is a fallacy, and Nancy Reeves has written Spirituality For Extroverts to rehabilitate the reputation of non-introverts. Reeves is just the person for the task. She is not only a clinical psychologist and spiritual director, but also an extrovert herself.

God goes to great lengths for our salvation

June 6, 2008

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) June 15 (Exodus 19:1-6; Psalm 100; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36-10:8) Protectors, champions and warriors — so many ancient peoples compared their gods. Nations, peoples and tribes each had their own deities with whom they entered into a covenant. These gods were meant to protect a people, as well as defeat and destroy their enemies on the battlefield. Gods inspired awe and fear with their displays of power — natural signs such as thunder, lightning, plagues and famines.

Why can't I become Queen?

June 6, 2008

My earliest political memory dates from 1977. Settling on my career path, I marched into the kitchen to inform my parents. Though less that four feet tall, I was great with ambition. “I want to become the Queen,” I announced. “You can’t become the Queen,” said my parents. “We’re Catholics.”

Condos don't fit St. Basil's neighbourhood

June 6, 2008

It was only last November that John Bentley Mays gave the seventh annual Somerville Lecture at the Newman Centre in Toronto. The subject of his excellent talk was the future of the Christian urbanism in Toronto. In it he says that, although major decisions are being made that will affect the “living textures and structures of the secular city for generations to come,” any form of Christian intervention in the debate is “oddly lacking at the present time.” He says that he cannot understand this lack of participation, adding: “However it is explained, the public silence of Christians about the contemporary city must be accounted a significant failure of imagination and will that should concern all believers.”

June 9

Religious vocation more important than ever

June 9, 2008

QUEBEC CITY - Though religious congregations are passing through a difficult time in Canada, “our vocation as religious is more important than ever before,” Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe told leaders of Canadian religious congregations here. The internationally renowned speaker and author spoke to 400 leaders of religious congregations from across Canada at the June 5-9 general assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC). The assembly also chose a new executive, with Dominican Father Yvon Pomerleau as president, Ursuline Sister Anne Lewans as vice-president and Marianhill Missionary Father Alain Rodrigue as secretary-treasurer.

June 10

School board pulls support for HPV vaccination

June 10, 2008

BURLINGTON, Ont. - Catholic Grade 8 students in Oakville, Burlington and surrounding areas won't be vaccinated on school property against a virus that causes cervical cancer. Halton Catholic District School Board voted 5-4 to reverse last year's decision to host public health nurses giving the Gardasil shot against HPV to girls whose parents have requested it.

June 11

School board chair vows to stay on

June 11, 2008

TORONTO - Major newspapers, the Peterborough-and-area Catholic school board and hundreds of parents have called on Toronto’s Catholic school trustees to resign. But board chair Catherine Leblanc-Miller rejects the calls. “If I am resigning... it will be because of the impact of all of this on my family,” she told The Catholic Register. “It will be because of the countless hours over recent weeks and months that I have neglected my family. It will not be because of any shame I feel.”

June 12

Poland recognizes Toronto priest for efforts during fall of communists

June 12, 2008

TORONTO - After the communist regime in Poland instituted martial law in 1981, Fr. Antoni Mendrela collaborated with other church and government officials in Canada to help out beleaguered Poles in two ways — by raising money to fund the Catholic University of Lublin, and getting Canadian parishes to sponsor emigrating Poles. For this, he was awarded Poland’s Officer’s Cross for Service. The award was presented to Mendrela in the name of Polish President Lech Kaczynskiat at the Catholic University of Lublin in January.

Declined with thanks

June 12, 2008

The news last week that a huge donation (valued at $19 million for church and land) to build a church in the Greater Toronto Area from auto parts magnate Frank Stronach had been turned by the archdiocese of Toronto created some awkward moments. No one likes to walk away from such magnificent generosity; nor does a potential donor like to see his offer of a gift spurned.