January 2009

2008 in review

January 5, 2009

D&P taps east coast for new president

January 6, 2009

MONTREAL - The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has turned to Newfoundland to find a new president of its national council. Pat Hogan of St. John’s has been elected as the new president, according to a Dec. 16 news release from the organization’s head office in Montreal. At one-time a teacher in Zambia with CUSO, Hogan joined Development and Peace in 1996 and served as chair of the St. John’s diocesan council and as a member of the education committee prior to being elected to the national council in 2004.

Pledge for life sought

January 6, 2009

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Physicians for Compassionate Care (PCC) in Oregon have teamed up to create an online campaign to allow people — physicians especially — to pledge their ethical regard for life. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition in Canada , said the pledge is not intended to bind anyone to a set of principles, but offer them encouragement and support for their ethical choices.

Courage co-founder to speak in Toronto

January 6, 2009

TORONTO - It’s been 30 years since Courage co-founder Fr. John Harvey, OSFS, began his work counselling priests and lay people with same-sex attractions. But Harvey, now 90, says it’s still a challenge to get some priests to support his program which promotes chastity and discourages a homosexual lifestyle.

Christmas spirit in a rose

January 6, 2009

While in Halifax for the holidays, I was given an unexpected lesson in gift-giving from a stranger. I was having dinner at a downtown restaurant with my family when I encountered what I consider my dose of Christmas spirit for the season.

Aiding AIDS orphans in Swaziland

January 6, 2009

BEACONSFIELD, Que. - At first glance, Sara Brouillette, 18, does not seem any different from other CEGEP students in Quebec, expressing worried chatter about the overload of last-minute assignments and exams. But as soon as she begins to speak about Swaziland, it is obvious there is more to this young woman than meets the eye.

Deacon starts campus Catholic chaplaincy

January 6, 2009

OSHAWA, Ont. - Providing a ministry of presence to post-secondary students is something that Deacon Bill Letterio considers the greatest aspect of Christian witness — and also the newest. Letterio single-handedly started up a chaplaincy from scratch at Durham College at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) this past fall.

Vampires made real

January 6, 2009

The Twilight series of books may not have sold as many copies as the Harry Potter series over the past decade, but it certainly seems to be taking its place as the new literary candy. Twilight did however, sell more copies in Canada this past year than Harry Potter books sold during 2007 — the year of the final Harry Potter book release — although the growing fame is where the comparison should stop. Twilight is a different kind of story altogether.

Back to the church

January 6, 2009

The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir , by John Grogan (Harper Collins, 352 pages, hardcover, $27.95). John Grogan, author of the bestselling Marley and Me, about his dysfunctional but loveable family pet, has just published a second book, The Longest Trip Home. This time he writes about his life, about growing up Catholic near Detroit and about discovering who he is as an adult and parent.

God promises us the richest gift of all

January 6, 2009

Baptism of the Lord (Year B) Jan. 11 (Isaiah 55:1-11; 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11) Scarcity, real or perceived, is the source of much of the world’s fear and violence. The scarcity or limitation can take the obvious forms — scarcity of food, water and resources. On a higher level, God can seem limited and available to only a select few. In the fearful minds and hearts of many people, life is a deadly struggle to acquire what we need — or think we need — before someone else gets there ahead of us.

Newfoundland diocese settles abuse claim

January 6, 2009

The Corner Brook and Labrador diocese in Newfoundland has cut a cheque for $13 million and turned the page on a sexual abuse case that drove the diocese into bankruptcy. The final payment to almost 40 men who had been abused as boys by a priest in several rural parishes was about $2 million less than originally envisioned in the settlement between victims and the diocese. But it avoided further court proceedings that would have delayed payment and eaten up the settlement in legal costs, said Bishop Doug Crosby.

Pope renews appeal for peace in Gaza

January 7, 2009

VATICAN CITY - As fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, Pope Benedict XVI urged Israelis and Palestinians to end the violent, armed clashes and start peace talks. “Hatred and the rejection of dialogue bring nothing but war,” he said after reciting the Angelus Jan. 6 with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

All life is to be welcomed

January 7, 2009

TORONTO - Long-time pro-life activist Jim Hughes says bringing four of his young grandchildren to the annual Mass for the Unborn teaches them an important lesson about human dignity. “They have to see that children in the womb are the same as children who are not and they need to be protected,” the national president of Campaign Life Coalition Canada told The Catholic Register following the Dec. 28 Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral which drew more than 500 people.

All humans are worthy

January 7, 2009

TORONTO - Living in apartheid South Africa, Sr. Ursula Mdadane says she grew up with a negative self-image. But seeing herself through the eyes of faith and an adult development program called PRH — translated from French as personality and human relations — helped her discover her worth as a person.

Feeling like Moses leading up to the wedding day

January 7, 2009

On Feb. 14 my fiancé Joseph and I will be married. As many girls do, I have thought about this day since I was six years old — the ring, the dress, the flowers, the cake, the invitations, my dad walking me down the aisle ... and the list goes on.

Entering the new year with Jesus

January 7, 2009

TORONTO - Six hundred youth from across Canada ended the year by attending workshops, praying and reflecting on their faith at Catholic Christian Outreach ’s annual Rise Up Conference. The Dec. 28-Jan. 1 conference, held this year at the Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel in downtown Toronto, built up to a New Year’s Eve party during which Salt + Light Television CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., interviewed the niece of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti, Wanda Gawronska, live onstage.

Vatican approaches Obama with cautious optimism

January 8, 2009

ROME - The Vatican is concerned about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's positions on the family and on the unborn, but it looks forward with hope to his presidency fostering more attention to the poor and easing violence around the globe, said retired Cardinal Pio Laghi. As Obama prepares for his inauguration on Jan. 20, Vatican observers are watching carefully to see which way his administration will go on issues close to the heart of Christians.

Loretto Sisters meet needs of their community for 400 years

January 8, 2009

TORONTO - The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary , commonly known as the Loretto Sisters, continues to serve the needy in a variety of ministries as the worldwide order celebrates its 400th anniversary this year. While the order’s early years during the Protestant Reformation were rough at best, its introduction to Canada nearly 250 years later also met with some dramatic obstacles. Five sisters, sent to Toronto from Ireland in 1847 to teach Irish immigrants, landed in the midst of a deadly typhus outbreak which took the life of Toronto’s Bishop Michael Power just weeks after their arrival. Within the year, a few of the sisters had passed away themselves, unprepared for the harsh Canadian winter. However, the survivors were later joined by more sisters from Ireland, and today the order here still counts as many as 100 religious sisters, mostly based in Toronto and Guelph, but also present in Saskatchewan, who strive to emulate the charisms of their foundress, Mary Ward.

Guelph author writes to a younger market

January 8, 2009

Hello, My Name is Emily by Joy Lynn Goddard (160 pages, 2008, paperback $14.95), Daredevils by Joy Lynn Goddard (178 pages, 2004, paperback $12.95), and Charlie’s Song by Joy Lynn Goddard (215 pages, 2007, paperback $15.95). All published by Chestnut Publishing Group. Former journalist Joy Lynn Goddard turned her writing talent to producing fiction for a younger crowd. Goddard, a teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Guelph, Ont., has published several books for children and young adults, the first three titled Hello, My Name is Emily, Daredevils and Charlie's Song. As in many coming-of-age books, Goddard has combined adventure with self-realization.

The limits of arms

January 8, 2009

We can only hope that Israel gains a modicum of respite from the erratic missiles that provoked its invasion of Gaza. At least it will have earned something from its massive display of military might against Hamas. No one should still be carrying a candle for Hamas, an organization whose fundamental aim to destroy Israel undercuts its own claim to moral leadership among the Palestinians. Terrorism is terrorism, and it should be fought wherever it festers. Nor should anyone be under any delusion, however, that Israel’s continual recourse to military means to solve its neighbour problems offers any long-term solutions. It didn’t work against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006 and it won’t now. Even though the Palestinian-to-Israeli death ratio is 100-to-one, Gaza will continue to give birth to new sons and daughters who will live for nothing more than to die in the cause of the ongoing conflict.