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March 1, 2009
TORONTO - The need for foster care parents fluctuates with time and location, but financial hardships in Canada could result in a much greater demand for help, according to children’s aid societies in Toronto. “There’s a shortage of foster homes in general,” said Bervin Garraway, supervisor of foster care development for Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto . “We have not seen (a huge drop) but anticipate there will be.”
TORONTO - Lay people and not bishops will lead the world out of the economic crisis, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver told an audience of business leaders in Toronto Feb. 24. “Bishops don’t know very much about economics, so we shouldn’t say very much,” said the Franciscan Capuchin bishop.
When I was younger I had the chance to visit Rome to climb and pray on the Santa Scala. Tradition has it that these steps were part of the praetorium of Pilate in Jerusalem and that Jesus is thought to have climbed when he was sent to Pontius Pilate to be judged. The steps are considered to be so holy that pilgrims are asked only to ascend on their knees as a sign of respect and worship. As a child of 12, I failed to grasp the true significance of this experience. Yet despite my minimal understanding, when I participated to the best of my ability, I was still able to feel a connection with God. To this day, it is still one of my most cherished memories as a practising Catholic. At the time I had not known that I had embarked on a pilgrimage. All I understood was a deep feeling of peace and thankfulness. When many hear the word “pilgrimage,” the image that comes to mind (and at one point, my own as well) is a journey. A time to put aside our lives and travel to a country or city which houses a significant religious landmark. Unfortunately, those who use this definition may hold the mentality that they are not able to partake in one due to expense or availability.
TORONTO - It’s an upbeat part of the city with proud residents, but Scarborough’s lingering reputation as a bad place makes it a little too easy to overlook the booming number of active Catholic youth in the eastern part of Toronto. While the local news stations are busy placing emphasis on the negativity that Scarborough’s past connotes, the priests and youth ministers there are hard at work, influencing the minds of the young people and transforming Scarborough youth groups into among the most active and flourishing ones in Toronto.
A Community Called Taizé by Jason Brian Santos (InterVarsity Press, 203 pages, softcover, $16.99). A Community Called Taizé teaches the reader the history of Taizé, an ecumenical community in the Burgundy region of France. This well-written history, by Jason Brian Santos, begins by explaining the author’s arrival in Taizé in 2005 and how he adapts to the unfamiliar community. Taizé is a community of prayer, worship and reconciliation where Christians from all over the world are welcome to visit. Taizé prayers consist of music and worship sung in various languages, with lyrics inspired by the simple phrases from psalms and other Scripture.
Making Sense of God by Elizabeth Dreyer, Grieving with Grace by Dolores R. Leckey, Living a Spirituality of Action by Joan Mueller (St. Anthony’s Messenger Press, soft cover, $11.95 each). “Shall we accept merely what is good from God and not accept also what is bad?” (Job 2:10). Since he first courageously formulated it, Job’s question has been asked again and again by human beings finding it difficult to embrace pain and suffering. Catholics have found inspiration in Job’s unwavering loyalty and love for God and have tried to imitate his lack of hatred and anger.
Second Sunday of Lent (Year B) March 8 (Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18; Psalm 116; Romans 8:31-35, 37; Mark 9:2-10) Most people keep a death grip on all that they hold dear. They live in dread and fear of losing possession, loved ones, relationships and personal achievements. It is the driving force behind much of our fear-filled and selfish behaviour.
Lent is back big time and in a wholly unexpected manner. There is an odd, though understandable, confluence of pop culture, economic trends and the liturgical calendar this year that makes the essence of the Lenten season appropriate to Christians and non-Christians. In the theatres Confessions of a Shop-a-holic (the film treatment of the Chick-Lit book whose title says it all) and The International (the thriller about a truly killer bank) each speak in their own way to a mood that has swept the world: true discomfort at unfettered greed at the personal and corporate level. Combine the movies with mounting job losses and continual admonitions that everything is just going to get worse and some of us could be forgiven for concluding that Lent, a time of abstinence, sacrifice and reflection, began some time ago.
It was the Marquis de Sade who first put into writing the idea that homosexuality is, for some, an inclination that emerges in childhood and remains more or less fixed throughout life. This view developed, over several centuries, into the modern notion of sexual orientation: same-sex attraction ceased to be a temptation or inclination from which some people suffered at various points in their lives and became something fixed, immutable and fundamental to the personality. This understanding of same-sex attraction is held more or less universally in mainstream modern culture. Looking at the writings of the press, the gay and lesbian organizations and the North American psychological establishment, one gets the impression that the matter is very simple. Some people are born gay, some people are born straight and some people are born bisexual. It is as unnatural and unhealthy to expect a gay person to have heterosexual relationships as it would be for a straight person to seek out same-sex partners. Whatever your orientation is, it’s that way for life and it cannot be changed.
Too often you will pick up a newspaper and read about the trouble our kids have got themselves into. Today, you will pick up The Catholic Register and only find out the good. And it’s not just the kids themselves. You can also read about the teachers, the administrators, the parents, all who contribute to the good that our Catholic schools are doing.
Dear Readers, In Ontario’s Catholic schools students, teachers, trustees, parents and administrators walk by faith, not by fear. The gallery of excellence on the following pages is testament to what faith can do with us, among us and for us. There is a spectre of fear hovering over our history. Before Confederation immigrant Catholics knew the Anglican-controlled school system was a mechanism for their assimilation by the Protestant establishment. They knew very well the establishment held Catholic newcomers in contempt. At Confederation the danger of assimilation was real enough for Catholics to fight a political battle to ensure their education rights in the basic law of the new country. As Catholic education rights were maliciously and illegally undercut after the First World War, Catholics relied on a secret weapon — religious sisters and brothers who would give their lives to ensure a Catholic education and to preserve the culture and spirituality which sustains the church. As high school became the new standard for a basic education after the Second World War, Catholic parents made financial sacrifices to give their children the necessary education in a Catholic context. Winning the political and legal battle for full funding in 1984 and for more equal funding in 1998 hasn’t erased the spectre of fear. Today, Catholics worry about the bureaucratization of Catholic education, the focus on testing and measurement at the expense of free enquiry and intellectual growth, a funding formula that leaves boards in a financial straight jacket, falling enrolments everywhere but the suburbs surrounding Toronto and the failures of leadership which have become an embarrassment to us all. Excellence is not founded in fear. Nor is it the product of worry. Examine especially the young faces in these pages. The excellence they have achieved is founded in faith, hope, love and charity.
March 2, 2009
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said Bishop Richard Williamson's statement of regret for denying the extent of the Holocaust does not meet the Vatican's demand that he publicly recant his position. "The declaration of the bishop does not seem to respect the conditions established in the note of the Secretariat of State of Feb. 4, 2009, where it says that he 'must distance himself in an absolutely unequivocal and public way from his positions regarding the Shoah,' ” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said Feb. 27.
March 3, 2009
TORONTO - A major breakthrough in stem cell research may take the science of regenerative medicine beyond the stage of turning human embryos into raw material for medical procedures, but at least one Catholic ethicist wants to know more before she declares the end of ethical wars over the research. Toronto's Dr. Andras Nagy of Mount Sinai Hospital announced a new technique for creating pluripotent stem cells that can develop into most other types of human tissue. Nagy's method of turning just about any cells (skin cells, blood cells, etc.) into stem cells avoids the use of spare embryos from in vitro fertilization and bypasses previous techniques that used viruses to turn back the clock on adult cells.
March 4, 2009
TORONTO - The Board of Directors of The Catholic Register is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim O’Leary to the position of Publisher and Editor of The Catholic Register, effective immediately. O’Leary brings to the position more than 25 years experience as a writer, editor and executive in traditional and online media companies.
March 6, 2009
TORONTO - While in Bangkok Jenny Cafiso met a woman who was happy to be in a prison cell with 50 other people. “It was a relief. It was the only way to sort of get away from the clutches of these people,” recalled Cafiso, director of Canadian Jesuits International — an agency that supports the international missionary work of English Canada’s Jesuits.
VATICAN CITY - A group of Nigerian bishops expressed hope that Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to Africa will spur the troubled continent on a path toward peace, justice and reconciliation. Three bishops from Nigeria said they are looking at Pope Benedict’s March 17-23 visit to Cameroon and Angola as an opportunity to show that the church wants to help heal divisions that continue to tear apart the continent.
TORONTO - Whether the product of a profound devotion to St. Joseph or a great excuse to break the Lenten fast, zeppole, an Italian pastry, rises in popularity every March. Zeppole, which originated in southern Italy, are traditionally made and given out or sold on March 19 in honour of St. Joseph’s feast day. It could be compared to a French Cruller but with custard cream and sour cherries in the middle. In Canada, zeppole can be found in some parishes as Italian communities bake and sell their own to raise money and can also be found in multiple Italian bakeries across the city.
TORONTO - Have you ever wanted to understand the Traditional Latin Mass? If so, you might consider heading out to the Newman Centre in Toronto on March 20. An outline and brief explanation will be provided beforehand to guide the congregation as it celebrates its first Tridentine Mass in approximately 40 years. “Given the fact that we are part of an educational community, it was felt we should at least have an opportunity for people to experience that form of liturgy, be educated in it, so they can be a bit more enlightened on its history as they read more about it, and as they might come across it in some places,” said Fr. Pat O’Dea, pastor of the Newman Centre parish.
TORONTO - Catholic school trustees say they are taking steps towards rebuilding trust among themselves and with the public. “We need to be able to talk with each other and try to rebuild the trust that we once had,” said Angela Kennedy, who was elected chair of the board on Jan. 22 but has not been able to take her seat. A public display of trustee infighting led provincially appointed supervisor Norbert Hartmann to delay the appointment.
OTTAWA - Groups on opposing sides of the same-sex marriage debate have joined forces to oppose the legalization of polygamy. “We feel (polygamy) would be a very backward step for our nation,” said Institute for Canadian Values founder Charles McVety, who joined Canadian Family Action Coalition president Brian Rushfeldt and Muslim Canadian Congress president Farzana Hassan at a news conference March 3 on Parliament Hill.