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January 2009

January 16

Confronting evil at St. Jerome's

January 16, 2009

Dr. Evil has a secret, and he’s itching to tell. For eight years, Prof. David Seljak has been teaching one of the most popular courses at St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo . The course is often called Evil 101 . Ever since late in the summer of 2000 when Seljak covered campus lamp posts and bulletin boards with posters advertising “Evil” in 240 point Arial Bold type, the religious studies professor has been able to attract as many as 1,000 students a year to his course. He often has to turn students away because he simply can’t fit any more into the lecture hall.

Criminal charges dropped against pro-life activist

January 16, 2009

TORONTO - An Ontario court judge has dismissed an obstruction charge against long-time pro-life activist Linda Gibbons. Gibbons, 60, had been held in custody at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, Ont., since Oct. 8 when she was arrested for picketing outside the Scott abortion clinic in downtown Toronto. She was released from prison on Jan. 12. Her original charge had been for obstructing a peace officer.

Spiritual heritage victim of unleashed human reason

January 16, 2009

Descarte Bones [images/stories/books/038551753X.jpg] Descartes’ Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason , by Russell Shorto, (Doubleday, hardcover, 299 pages, $30). In telling the tale of the remains of philosopher Rene Descartes, who died in 1650 and was buried the first time in Stockholm, Russell Shorto reflects on the personal and the cultural, the religious and the scientific, portraying interesting individuals as they chased after dreams of scientific success. In this history, the ideals of progress are slowly replaced by those of religion.

Reaching out to urban aboriginals

January 16, 2009

OTTAWA - Like incense, the white smoke of smouldering sweetgrass, cedar, sage and tobacco rises from a seashell as a small group of church-goers pray in the four cardinal directions, giving thanks to the Creator. As Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. , celebrates Mass, he does so in front of a wall papered with the view of a forest. This scene — where aboriginal Catholics in Ottawa welcomed Prendergast to celebrate Mass at the Kateri Native Ministry office — was certainly not the first time Catholicism and native spirituality have intertwined. But it is a growing reality in cities like Ottawa and Toronto where the population of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people is growing.

Native parish honours past

January 16, 2009

WINNIPEG - It is a cold Sunday morning at a small Catholic church in a working-class neighbourhood of Winnipeg. The Eucharistic Prayer has just ended, and the priest is holding the body and blood of Christ above the altar. When the drum beat begins, it pounds like a human heart. A woman sings in Ojibway.

Look within before passing judgment

January 16, 2009

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Jan. 25 (Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 25; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20) What if the people we criticize and despise were to change their ways? “Wonderful,” you say, but it isn’t always that simple. There is a rather distressing human need to have enemies and others to condemn and look down upon. The greatest hell for the moralist and reformer is to have no available targets.

Cardinal under fire for Gaza comments

January 16, 2009

VATICAN CITY - The Gaza Strip increasingly is looking like “a big concentration camp” while egoism, hatred, poverty and injustice are fueling the continual slaughter in the Holy Land, said a top Vatican official. “We are seeing a continual massacre in the Holy Land where the overwhelming majority has nothing to do with the conflict, but it is paying for the hatred of a few with their lives,” said Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

January 20

Bishops take the side of peace

January 20, 2009

Though the war was raging next door, European and North American bishops on an annual pilgrimage to visit Palestinian Christians in early January had no interest in deciding who was right and who was wrong in the war in Gaza, Archbishop James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Bishops, said on his return to Canada. "I'm not a politician and that's not why we went," Weisgerber said. "But it seems that the leadership on both sides is really not strong enough to mobilize public opinion to agree to peace."

Catholic protest not pro-Hamas, organizers say

January 20, 2009

TORONTO - Chants of "Palestine is ours/The Jews are dogs" and "Burn, burn Israel" had nothing to do with the vast majority of protesters at an event organized by the archdiocese of Montreal 's social action committee, said the director of the archdiocese of Montreal's social action office. "To claim that this peaceful demonstration was pro-Hamas is to grossly misrepresent the views of the overwhelming majority of persons who marched on a cold Saturday afternoon," Brian McDonough told The Catholic Register.

January 21

New U.S. president invokes religious heritage

January 21, 2009

WASHINGTON - The United States' multiple religious traditions are "a strength, not a weakness," said President Barack Obama Jan. 20 in his inaugural address. "Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness," said the nation's 44th president after he was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, one of five Catholics on the Supreme Court.

January 22

Canadians share in historic U.S. moment

January 22, 2009

TORONTO - It was a road trip of a lifetime for Newman Centre parishioner Monique Ferdinand. The 26-year-old consultant made the 10-hour drive to Washington, D.C., with two friends for the inauguration of the United States’ first African-American president, Barack Obama, Jan. 20.

January 23

Spanish judge to investigate Jesuit murders

January 23, 2009

MADRID, Spain - A Spanish judge has decided to open an investigation into the case of 14 members of the Salvadoran army accused of involvement in killing six Jesuit priests and two of their employees in 1989, during El Salvador’s civil war. High Court Judge Eloy Velasco also decided not to try former Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani, accused of concealment of the crime, because of insufficient evidence.

Developmentally challenged thrive in arts program

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - Victor Bernardo breakdances in the middle of the room as about a dozen Don Bosco Catholic High School students cheer him on. It’s a retreat day with high school students at St. Jude’s Academy for the Arts on Weston Road. Bernardo, 25, has been attending the arts academy, which is a non-profit day program for developmentally challenged young adults, for several years.

Theatre last phase of St. Mike's development

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - A new $10-million performing arts centre is scheduled to open at St. Michael’s College School next year. School president Fr. Joseph Redican, C.S.B., said the 440-seat theatre would be a state-of-the-art facility and will support the school’s drama and theatre arts program. It will also serve as a venue for concerts, public speaking and debates. And the centre will have a display space for the school’s visual arts program and will be the site of lectures and conferences.

Unity fruit of the Spirit

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - Standing at the ambo of Toronto’s grand and historic St. James Anglican Cathedral in his impressive academic robes, Rev. Dr. Brian Stiller, Canadian Evangelical leader and president of Tyndale University College and Seminary, frankly confessed his pharisaical tendencies. He was quick to point out that the Pharisees are the “good guys” — decent, honest, thoughtful, law abiding, tax-paying, religious people not unlike most regular church-goers in our own society.

Special year for Black History Month

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - As millions converged on Washington to see Barack Obama swear the oath of office and begin a new chapter in black history Jan. 20, schools and parishes in Toronto were preparing for a month of celebrations to commemorate African-Canadian contributions to Canada and the world. Even if Black History Month or African Heritage Month are annual events with a history stretching back to the 1920s in the United States, the inauguration of the first black president of the United States makes this year special.

Ontario schools will feel recession's pinch

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - With the economic downturn and declining student enrolment, Ontario school boards could be facing delays in some of their program funding, says Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne. Provincial funding for new programs could also be on hold.

More than just an athlete

January 23, 2009

Behind every serve, every free-throw, there is an athlete performing at his or her full potential to represent their team as best as they can. To everyone around them, they are just another volleyball or basketball player, however there is much more to that athlete than the jersey he or she wears. Throughout my years of playing high school sports, one thing I have learned is that the dedication and responsibility to maintain high-quality grades and show up to every practice, which may sometimes last until 5:30 p.m., every night are not easy.

Christians must lead way to unity

January 23, 2009

Editor’s note: this is the second place winner of the Friars’ Student Writing Award sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and The Catholic Register. Victoria Huryn, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Toronto’s Hawthorn School For Girls. The contest is held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. All six winning essays are to be published. One — a word undeniably miniscule in quantitative terms, it nevertheless is of no small consequence. It is a term of unity, of singleness of purpose, of affiliation, of federation, of partnership, of alliance. As such, when the words of the prophet Ezekiel, “That they may be one in Your hands,” are brought to the forefront of one’s thoughts, the word one assumes a far grander connotation — in today’s society, one almost daunting.

Seminarian hungers of the Spirit

January 23, 2009

TORONTO - Robert Galea , a talented guitarist and songwriter, as well as a seminarian from Malta now studying in Australia, played his music for a crowd of 60 people gathered in a small yet welcoming Salt + Light Television studio Jan. 16. The event, titled Hungry for the Spirit, was a collaborative effort of Salt + Light Television , Civitas, the archdiocese of Toronto and Faith Connections and was filmed for later broadcast on Salt + Light’s concert series Openings.