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March 2009

March 23

The new evangelization

March 23, 2009

It is a truism among ecumenists that the pressing importance of Christian unity derives from the mission entrusted by Christ to the Church: to bring the Gospel to all people. Unity, in short, is our mission, but our divisions generally get in the way of effectively working together. Our present challenges, however, present us with new opportunities for collaboration. This was brought home when I was in Geneva, Switzerland, in early March among my Swiss ecumenical colleagues, most of whom are Protestant and who have been heavily involved in church work.

Pope Benedict praises African women

March 23, 2009

LUANDA, Angola - Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended women's rights and praised the many "silent heroines" of Africa who are holding families and society together. African women in particular are working under adverse conditions that are often caused by the "behaviour and attitudes of men," the Pope said in Angola March 22. "History records almost exclusively the accomplishments of men, when in fact much of it is due to the determined, unrelenting and charitable action of women," he said.

March 24

Catholics urged to keep giving to Development and Peace

March 24, 2009

As an investigation proceeds into Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's funding policies, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging Catholics to continue to give to the development and humanitarian assistance arm of the Canadian church. In the first statement from the bishops since an Internet site accused the Development and Peace of funding "pro-abortion groups" in Mexico, conference president Archbishop James Weisgerber invoked Pope Benedict XVI's mission to Africa and the worldwide financial crisis as reasons to continue to give generously.

March 26

Early induction of labour likely to be deemed ethical for some high-risk pregnancies

March 26, 2009

TORONTO - An upcoming revision of the Catholic Health Association of Canada ’s ethics guide will likely specify that early induction of labour is morally and ethically justified in certain cases of high-risk pregnancy, said the president of the Ottawa-based organization. James Roche told The Catholic Register that a team of ethicists has not finalized its recommendations on the precise circumstances in which early labour can be induced, but the report is expected to include provisions for early induction in some acute-care cases.

Pope Benedict miscast in condom controversy

March 26, 2009

With just 18 words Pope Benedict XVI ignited an international fury that dominated headlines, dwarfed his good works in Africa and raised serious questions about the Vatican’s media savvy in a media-mad world. The 18 words were extracted from a comment made by the Pope about AIDS during an in-flight press conference, as follows: “The problem can not be overcome with the distribution of condoms: on the contrary, they increase the problem.”

Pope Benedict not the enemy of AIDS prevention

March 26, 2009

For those working in media education and advocacy, news and comment about papal statements tend to follow a predictable pattern. Within a lengthy speech or series of speeches, there will be mention of church teaching on sexuality. Regardless of what else was said, response will be swift, negative and sneering, sometimes not without an implication that really, perhaps celibate old men should not be addressing such matters at all. So it was with Pope Benedict XVI’s recent trip to Africa. During a press conference en route, in answer to a question of which he had advance notice, he confirmed the church’s belief that condoms are not the answer to stemming the AIDS crisis. Reacting immediately, the Toronto Star quoted Stephen Lewis, chairman of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, who said the Pope must be “living on the moon” to reject such sound science as condoms as an AIDS preventative. The Halifax Chronicle Herald was perhaps more balanced, stating that condoms are not the complete solution, but editorializing that “Personal responsibility, as the Pope says, is the key. That, however, includes condom use.” In the Edmonton Sun, Lynn Cockburn advises that “the Pope’s attitude toward condoms, abortion and women has got to be significant in the field of paleontology.” Similar comment was available in most newspapers.

Vatican and Britain unite in call for new development bank

March 26, 2009

When G-20 leaders gather in London April 2 to try to fix a broken global economy they will have to deal with a challenge their host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, laid out on the front page of L’Osservatore Romano Feb. 19. Brown’s manifesto in the Vatican newspaper followed a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in which the son of a Presbyterian minister and the supreme pontiff discussed the role of morality in keeping capitalism on track.

March 30

Obama to address Notre Dame grads

March 30, 2009

WASHINGTON - University of Notre Dame officials were standing firm on their choice of U.S. President Barack Obama as commencement speaker at the institution’s May 17 graduation, in spite of a large number of Catholics calling on them to rescind the invitation. The Indiana university, run by the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the White House announced March 20 that Obama would be Notre Dame’s 2009 commencement speaker and confirmed he will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the graduation.

Catholic Church's condom stance unfairly criticized

March 30, 2009

A leading HIV researcher says Pope Benedict XVI was unfairly criticized for his comments against condoms as an effective AIDS prevention strategy in Africa. “Abstinence is the best message for young people, particularly if they are reached before they are sexually active,” Edward C. Green, director of the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project , told The Catholic Register. “For Africa, (promoting condoms) may be exacerbating the problem.”

The vanishing Catholics of Bosnia

March 30, 2009

HAMILTON, Ont. - He’s a Catholic bishop who has had his life threatened several times, seen his flock forcibly displaced, endured the bombing of his churches and the ransacking of sacred objects in his diocese. Yet none of this has deterred Bishop Franjo Komarica (pronounced Franyo Komaritza) from his spiritual vocation and recent mission — insisting that the international community help Catholics who were expelled during the 1990s war in Bosnia-Hercegovina be permitted to return to their homes

St. Jerome's faculty sign union cards

March 30, 2009

Twenty of 31 full-time faculty at St. Jerome’s University have signed union cards and expect to form a legal bargaining unit with a secret ballot vote before the end of March. St. Jerome’s president Fr. David Perrin would not comment on whether the formation of a union would be good or bad for the university. “This is a labour relations issue. I can’t comment,” he said.

Manresa retreats open prayer life to deeper faith

March 30, 2009

PICKERING, Ont. - You can’t keep your faith if you don’t deepen it. A paper-thin faith just gets thinner, until there’s nothing left to hold onto. So Alice Quigley has been diligently deepening her faith with annual retreats at Manresa Spiritual Renewal Centre in Pickering for the last 36 years. When the 75-year-old Quigley made her first retreat in 1973 she was a woman just beginning to catch her breath at the tail end of more than 20 years of full-bore motherhood — four girls and a boy. Her oldest was just about to get married. She still had three teenagers and one pre-teen at home, but she was beginning to feel a little freedom coming on.

Spiritual tourism on rise despite tough times

March 30, 2009

"Christopher Cross has his bags packed for the Holy Land for the 50th time." The 60-year-old retired Vietnam veteran has been organizing pilgrimages to Israel for close to three decades. For most of those years, he was running the tour on the side — what he considered a ministry of sharing the story of the Holy Land with other Catholics — while working full-time in his insurance business. During this economic downturn, Cross says there is a surprising demand for his tours. “We’ve seen a change in spirituality because of everything happening in the world,” he told The Register from New York.

Ethics and morality needed in business

March 30, 2009

TORONTO - Bringing ethics and morals back into business is what’s needed during this time of economic turmoil, say some religious experts. “Greed came before the fall,” Fr. Bill Ryan, S.J., told a crowd of about 40 people at the “Global Economic Meltdown: A Secular and Religious Response” conference at the University of Toronto’s Multi-faith Centre March 19. It was sponsored by the university’s Amhadiyya Muslim Students Association and drew a mix of students and business professionals.

Outgoing vocations director grateful for experience

March 30, 2009

TORONTO - After five years of helping young men discern the priesthood, Fr. Liborio Amaral, 45, rector of Serra House in Toronto, is getting ready to pass the torch. Amaral will be taking a six-month sabbatical, starting in July, when he will rest, refocus and recharge before taking on parish ministry once again — a calling he filled at St. Elizabeth Seton in Newmarket before he was appointed to Serra House in 2004. Serra House is a place of reflection and discernment for men considering a vocation to the priesthood.

Lift Jesus Higher Rally will be returning to Toronto

March 30, 2009

TORONTO — The Lift Jesus Higher Rally will be returning to Toronto April 18. The rally will take over the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins is among the guests. For information, call (416) 251-4255 or see www.lift-jesus-higher-rally.org .

Taking Easter to the streets of Toronto

March 30, 2009

TORONTO — The streets of the city will be filled with Christians marking the last days of Jesus on Good Friday, April 10. A number of re-enactments of the Stations of the Cross will take place around Toronto, including the biggest of them all which will take to the streets of Little Italy in the downtown core. The annual Stations of the Cross originates at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Manning Avenue and makes its way around the Bathurst and College Streets area. Also in the downtown will be the annual Good Friday Walk for Justice which starts at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity next to the Eaton Centre. The annual walk uses mime, prayer and meditation while walking several modern-day Stations of the Cross.

Finding the meaning of life

March 30, 2009

OTTAWA - In life, there are roads that lead in every direction. Some are winding, some bumpy, some smooth and some branch off in different directions. In life, there are endless choices, but we never know where these paths will lead, so for better or for worse, we choose. We choose for different reasons, but one contributing factor in my decision-making has always been faith. When I was in the second grade, I remember my brother had this book, Bart Simpson’s Guide to Life, which I’d sometimes steal and flip through. There was a recurring joke that said, “Turn to page ___ to find out the meaning of life.” Every time you turned to the page it listed, it would just lead you back to a different, answer-less page. I remember finding this trivial, just because (having gone to church every Sunday my whole life) I couldn’t understand why people didn’t know the meaning to life. Apparently I was the only one who knew it, and it was simple in my mind — to spread the word of the Lord.

God is not beyond our reach

March 30, 2009

Two questions have been ringing in my heart. One came from a gentle, soft-spoken man named Allan. He suffered terribly as a child, abandoned by his parents, in a country at war. A man of great faith, he works hard to keep from going to hell after death, because “I’ve been in hell, and I don’t want to go there again.” How do I get out of hell and get to God? Since hell is so prevalent on Earth, it’s an urgent question. I suspect it’s a fairly common one. Not everyone would consider their lives hell. But at least they might ask: How do I get out of suffering and struggle, anxiety and loneliness, depression and suffering, and get to God?

Jesus' truth cannot be overpowered

March 30, 2009

Passion Sunday (Year B) April 5 (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47) How are saints, prophets and reformers able to persevere in their commitment and mission? What is the source of their courage and stamina? Often they must endure ridicule, rejection, arrest, torture and even death. The pressure is great to compromise or take an easier path. But they are instructed and guided from a higher source. This knowledge gives them courage and strength — and even joy — in the midst of their struggles. Many great names have questioned themselves while suffering the agony of doubt and loneliness. But they persevere because they can do no other — the spirit of God sets their hearts aflame. They are still human beings with all of the weaknesses and flaws that accompany our humanity. The difference is that they have learned to listen — and in the Bible both “hear” and “obey” stem from the same root word. One must listen with more than ears and see with more than eyes in order to be inspired by God.