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March 2009

March 12

Crime prevention needed, not tougher sentences

March 12, 2009

TORONTO - Federal tough-on-crime legislation isn’t going to deter crime, won’t make communities safer and will divert millions of dollars away from crime prevention to build more jails and conduct more trials, said the Church Council on Justice and Corrections. “It’s clear that you want to stop the gangs, that you want to make it safer for the community. Are these measures really going to make much difference?” asked Richard Haughian, who represents the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops on the board of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections .

Aid preferences tied to trade interests

March 12, 2009

A sharp policy turn away from Africa and away from the poorest countries has the development community wondering whether Canada is now using its foreign aid budget to promote trade and its security interests rather than help poor communities. “We’re looking at this with a bit of a questioning eye to understand the rationale,” Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace executive director Michael Casey said.

March 13

Lessons learned from foreign lands

March 13, 2009

Annual meetings of the Administrative Board of the International Federation of Catholic Universities might not be expected to generate a great deal of media interest. After all, discussions about policy, statutes, bylaws, applications for membership, budgetary matters and issues of scheduling and personnel are the general meat of most such comparable meetings: dull fare for everyone save those empowered to care. The meetings — which I have been attending now for a decade — are, however, more than simply banal and managerial in their design. Among the key benefits of the week-long sessions are the rich opportunities that arise because of exposure to other university constituencies and challenges, the recognition of the common themes that unite us and the common threats that lurk ominously on our collective horizon and the energizing possibilities inherent in academic collaboration, student exchanges and shared research projects.

Jesuit's fast shows care for creation

March 13, 2009

Eleven days into a 48-day fast, Jesuit Father John McCarthy was feeling pretty good. “I haven’t noticed anything yet, other than a bit of weight loss,” McCarthy told The Catholic Register from Corner Brook, Nfld. “But in terms of energy level and everything else — well, it’s only 11 days.” That is 11 days living on nothing but water and juice. McCarthy never liked V8 juice, but he’s acquiring a taste for the low-sodium variety. The most substantial thing he drinks is Sunkist strawberry and banana smoothies. He’s going through a fair amount of cranberry juice. He doesn’t have a blender.

Religious, CWL join to fight human trafficking

March 13, 2009

OTTAWA - The Canadian Religious Conference and the Catholic Women’s League are supporting MP Joy Smith’s anti-human trafficking private member’s bill. Bill C-268 would change the Criminal Code so those convicted of trafficking children under 18 would receive a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

St. Jerome's does e-mail fast

March 13, 2009

On the campus of the university that helps fuel the world's instant communication addiction - e-mail all the time and everywhere courtesy of Blackberry phones - it might be something like heresy. But for St. Jerome's University staffer Jim Robson, giving up internal e-mails for a day is actually a spiritual exercise. St. Jerome's had its first No E-mail Day Feb. 11 and held another March 11. The idea is that by fasting from internal e-mails, workers will be encouraged to actually talk to one another, said Robson.

Carroll drops appeal of dismissal

March 13, 2009

TORONTO - Former Toronto Catholic school trustee Oliver Carroll has dropped an appeal of a court decision which found him guilty of conflict of interest charges and led to his removal from the Toronto board. “At end of the day, it’s really about Catholic education. There’s no point in having this replayed every two months for the next year,” he told The Register.

March 16

Choose the abundant life God offers

March 16, 2009

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year B) March 22 (2 Chronicles 36:14-17, 19-23; Psalm 137; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21) When the terrible and unspeakable happens people want to know why. Often there is a twist to the “why”: who is to blame? Why the Holocaust? Why 9/11? Why the tsunami or earthquake? Questioning and reflecting on negative experiences gives rise to many interpretations. They can range from a conclusion that there is no God to a conviction that the victims “had it coming.”

Forgiveness in genocide's aftermath

March 16, 2009

Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda by Emmanuel Katongole with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (Harper Collins/Zondervan, softcover, 176 pages, $16.99). As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda by Catherine Claire Larson (Harper Collins/Zondervan, softcover, 284 pages, $16.99). The slaughter lasted for 100 days in the spring of 1994. Some 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered — neighbours, friends, classmates. Lay Germans often said they did not know what took place in the Nazi death camps. Certainly, though, all Rwandans knew about the genocide occurring in front of them. As a nation, they either swung machetes — one by one, face to face, slashing and severing — or they were victims.

National Gallery to host papal art exhibit

March 16, 2009

TORONTO - Canadians will get the chance to see the differences in art patronage by popes of the 16th century at a rare exhibition this summer at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The gallery will host From Raphael to Carracci, the Art of Papal Rome, an exhibition which will gather together 150 works of art which have rarely been seen outside of Italy or appeared together at one time. The exhibit was announced at a Toronto news conference hosted by the National Gallery of Canada Feb. 26.

St. Cecelia's diversifies over past 100 years

March 16, 2009

TORONTO - Parishioners at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church are enjoying a year-long celebration packed full of fund-raisers to commemorate the 100 years their church has been standing. With more than 30 events planned events to keep the celebration alive, Fr. Joseph Pap Tran, who has been pastor for the past four years, said it’s an exciting and busy time. “We have a Lenten retreat on March 29,” he said. “And the closing Mass in November will be presided over by Archbishop (Thomas) Collins.”

Golden Rule hits class

March 16, 2009

TORONTO - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is a simple and logical instruction that transcends many of the world’s religions, ethical codes and cultures — and one that is now being used in Toronto-area classrooms to help form a common bond between diverse groups of students. “The Golden Rule preaches unity,” said Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova. “You may have a different skin colour or a different label on your religion, but under God we are all the same.”

Danger in censorship

March 16, 2009

Although we live in a society that is growing increasingly accepting and we are able to discuss subjects that may be perceived as controversial, the amount of censorship that is still alive and thriving enrages me. I can’t even read a novel such as The Wars or The Coldest Winter Ever without hearing criticism about how graphic or inappropriate the material is. I believe that controversy over a topic is the beginning of contemplation, discussion and eventually acceptance.

Scarboro Missions continues plans for youth component

March 16, 2009

TORONTO - An attempt to connect youth with missionary work abroad has been put on hold as Scarboro Missions in Toronto re-evaluates its goals and financial abilities. Scarboro Missions hired a youth liaison employee several months ago, but as Scarboro Missions identified a greater need for travel, the employee decided to pursue interests that would keep him closer to home.

Grant empowers Dufferin-Peel youth

March 16, 2009

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Thirty-five Dufferin-Peel Catholic schools were excited to receive a total of $78,594 through the Ministry of Education’s Student Voice Program this month. The program, now in its second year, provided financial aid to Grades 7 to 12 students at more than 850 schools across Ontario this year. With the funding, the Dufferin-Peel schools will be able to move forward with 73 projects to help students become more engaged in learning and interacting with their communities.

The Pope's journey of hope

March 16, 2009

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said his trip to Africa would be a missionary journey highlighting the continent’s challenges, its enormous potential and its “profound religious soul.” The Pope, speaking two days before his departure for Cameroon and Angola, said he was not bringing a political or social program to Africa, but simply the Gospel message of love that is “capable of transforming the world.”

March 17

Archdiocese explores nun’s sainthood cause

March 17, 2009

TORONTO - The journey to possible sainthood for Sr. Carmelina Tarantino has begun. A panel of theologians and historians, under the auspices of the archdiocese of Toronto, has officially started an examination of the life of the Toronto nun to ascertain her candidacy for sainthood. The inquiry was to be opened at a Mass celebrated at St. Paschal Baylon Church March 16 by Archbishop Thomas Collins. The archdiocese received approval to proceed — the nihil obstat — from the Vatican last September. An examination of life is the first of four steps in the process to sainthood.

March 18

Toronto parish lays its hero to rest

March 18, 2009

TORONTO - They decorated his favourite jeep with white flowers, wore buttons emblazoned with his military photo and filled the church with Lebanese and Canadian flags to welcome home the latest fallen Canadian soldier, 22-year-old Marc Diab. It wasn’t the homecoming that parishioners at Toronto’s Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church had hoped for. Friends and family were counting down the days when they would see Diab return to Canada. But on March 8 he was killed by a roadside bomb north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, a month before his expected return. Diab was the 112th soldier killed since Canada’s mission in Afghanistan began in 2002.

March 19

In Africa, pope warns of erosion of values, 'tyranny of materialism'

March 19, 2009

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass with more than 40,000 Catholics in Cameroon, Pope Benedict XVI urged African families to reject the "tyranny of materialism" and other social changes that risk eroding the continent's traditional values. "Brothers and sisters in Cameroon and throughout Africa, you who have received from God so many human virtues, take care of your souls! Do not let yourselves be captivated by selfish illusions and false ideals!" the pope said in a homily March 19 at the Amadou Ahidjo soccer stadium in Yaounde.

March 20

Pope outlines views on African synod

March 20, 2009

YAOUNDE, Cameroon - Pope Benedict XVI offered a sneak preview of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, identifying several issues he believes will be crucial. Above all, he said, the church in Africa is called to be a healing community on a continent torn by "savage conflicts" and other tragedies.