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June 2009

June 10

Mexican controversy should help 're-clarify' Development and Peace role

June 10, 2009

Having Canada’s bishops investigate accusations that the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace funded abortion-promoting organizations in Mexico has been a good thing for the 42-year-old agency, said executive director Michael Casey. “It’s not a bad thing to have this moment of reflection and re-affirmation, and to see where we’re going,” Casey told The Catholic Register. “It’s unfortunate it had to come out of such negative impulses.”

June 11

Lebanese election results a boost for diplomatic relations

June 11, 2009

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon’s Western-backed ruling majority remains in power as a result of the country’s hotly contested June 7 parliamentary elections, a setback for the Christian opposition backed by Hezbollah. Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, a Maronite Catholic who forged alliances through his Free Patriotic Movement with Hezbollah in 2006, had hoped to claim the majority in the Lebanese parliament. Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria, is considered a terrorist group by many Western countries including Canada.

Chief Fontaine leaves a legacy of reconciliation

June 11, 2009

OTTAWA - The pending departure of Phil Fontaine will not halt the progress towards reconciliation with First Nations peoples, predicted Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) president Archbishop James Weisgerber. Fontaine, who served three terms since 1997 as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of July. A race is underway to select his replacement.

Thief makes off with St. Therese of Lisieux relic

June 11, 2009

TORONTO - A first-class relic of St. Therese of Lisieux disappeared from Toronto’s St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Hail to the Chief

June 11, 2009

Phil Fontaine is leaving the Assembly of First Nations in July after serving three terms since 1997 as National Chief. He will be missed. His accomplishments are many but perhaps Fontaine aptly summed up his own legacy in one succinct sentence: “We are now in a position to say we forgive.” Fontaine’s years as National Chief were sewn together by a thread of reconciliation. That single theme — establishing harmony and friendship with the rest of Canada — dominated his tenure. Fontaine understood that a two-way relationship of fraternity and trust would only occur when First Nations peoples received a sincere apology for the many wrongs suffered over the decades. Then would come the difficult part: they’d have to forgive. Under Fontaine’s leadership, reconciliation was a journey with three roads. First came a multi-billion-dollar compensation settlement between the federal government and First Nations people stemming from the national scandal of the residential schools. That was followed by last June’s apology in the House of Commons from Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of all Canadians. Third came a Vatican audience at which Fontaine received an expression of sorrow from Pope Benedict XVI for the conduct of some church members.

June 12

And thank you too, Dad

June 12, 2009

It had been a busy day at the office and as I walked into the house I was psyching myself up for an evening of parenting. As the father of a large family there is always someone who needs attention. Any given night could include a trip to the arena or basketball court, dropping one of the older children off at their part-time jobs, or helping Emma and Hope with their homework.

Parental rights in the spotlight

June 12, 2009

The Alberta government recently enacted controversial changes to its human rights code that affirm the fundamental right of parents to intercede in the classroom on matters related to the moral education of their children. In a decision regarded as a victory for religious freedom, Bill 44 amended Alberta’s Human Rights Act to give parents the right to remove their children without academic penalty from classes which include discussion of sexual orientation, sexuality or religion. The amendment requires teachers to notify parents if the sensitive topics are scheduled for inclusion in formal lessons. Informal or “incidental” classroom discussion is not covered by the requirement.

We are always in God's hands

June 12, 2009

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) June 21 (Job 38:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 107; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41) The source of much human misery lies in our desire to play God. The universe runs quite well when we allow God to drive the bus — it is only when we think that we can do a better job that everything begins to go wrong.

It's ordinary to be extraordinary

June 12, 2009

I once took a tour of an old church with a class of catechumens. “Who can tell me what the focal point of the church is?” asked the guide, a priest. “The tabernacle,” I said. The priest made a face. “Yes, unfortunately,” he said. “We really must cover it up. The focal point should be the altar. And can anyone tell me why?”

Fully Alive brought up to speed for Internet age

June 12, 2009

TORONTO - Teen dating and online relationships will be among new topics in the revised family life textbooks for Ontario Catholic elementary students. The Fully Alive textbooks for Grades 6 to 8 students are part of the updated second edition of the Ontario bishops’ family life program which starts at Grade 1. The original texts were published from 1988 to 1992, with the Grade 6 revised edition expected this fall and the final two revisions within the next few years. Earlier revisions were launched two years ago.

Living on less a bonus for this family

June 12, 2009

It’s amazing how what initially seems like a major crisis can sometimes end up being just what is needed to get your priorities straight. I wouldn’t have believed it at the time, though. I’m referring to my husband’s job loss a decade ago due to workplace restructuring. The anniversary is this month. He’d been with the company longer than I’d known him. His job necessitated a two-hour, round-trip commute and long, demanding workdays. Originally it also involved travel; the last two years he was continually on call via pager.

Practice makes perfect, eventually

June 12, 2009

Practicing Catholic by James Carroll (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover, 400 pages, $37.95). James Carroll is a tough guy to read, and for critics a tough thinker to argue with. He’s demonstrated that in 10 novels and five serious works of non-fiction so far. His latest work, Practicing Catholic will for some be his toughest book yet. For others it will be like a long cold drink of water on a fiery day. Carroll, raised an Irish American Catholic (and the qualifiers are important) on the eastern seaboard of the United States has bedevilled conservative lay Catholics and conservative members of the hierarchy for nearly four decades. Trained as a Paulist priest with two vocations — priest and poet — Carroll is a man of Vatican II who finds his faith and solace in that truly astonishing and earth-shaking convocation which rocked the church 40 years ago and still does to this day.

The future is in our hands

June 12, 2009

It’s almost the end of June. Usually in a student’s mind this means the school year is coming to an end. I’ve often simply seen it this way until now, as this will be the last month of my high school career. I will never have to deal with hard-to-understand math teachers or the 12-minute run our gym teachers force us to do. Yet, in some ways, no matter how nagging some of those memories are, they always seemed to bring a smile to my face and a good laugh with all my friends. But do the good times stop as soon as graduation is over? I hope not.

Teen Bible study focuses on Jean Vanier

June 12, 2009

TORONTO - L’Arche Canada has published a youth Bible study to inspire teens and help them find their calling in life. Exploring Your Future: A Youth Bible Study with Jean Vanier aims to help teens counter the bad influences that can throw them off the path to success. “The youth of today are the adults of tomorrow,” said Jessica Vorstermans, an educational initiatives facilitator for L’Arche Canada, based in Toronto.

Sherbrooke youth to host four-day faith event

June 12, 2009

Famille Marie Jeunesse will welcome 300 youth to join them for its 20th Youth Council — a bilingual weekend of prayer, skits, teachings and more, taking place June 26-29. Famille Marie-Jeunesse is a movement of lay and consecrated young people living in community in Sherbrooke, Que. The community follows a Marian and eucharistic spirituality and is one of five similar households around the world.

India trip opens Toronto students' eyes

June 12, 2009

TORONTO - Two students from Blessed Mother Teresa High School in Scarborough got to follow in the footsteps of their school’s namesake this year as they joined nine other students in a trip to India. The students visited missionary projects run by the Loretto Sisters and visited locations that had strong ties to Blessed Mother Teresa, who was a Loretto Sister before she founded the Missionaries of Charity. The first-time trip was made in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Lorettos.

Hawthorn School aids Vatican Museums

June 12, 2009

TORONTO - When Grade 9 student Christina Mavroidis saw the famed Pieta and other art wonders of the Vatican and its museums this year, her love for art was transformed. “I don’t know how they were able to put so much emotion into so many statues,” she said. But just as the art has changed students like Mavroidis, so have the students affected the art. Every year, Hawthorn School for Girls, an independant Toronto school based on Catholic values, raises money for the restoration of Vatican Museums artifacts. It became a member of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums after the Canadian chapter was established in 2000. Over the years, the school has presented between $6,000 and $9,000 for the Vatican Museums.

Development and Peace faces new abortion-funding allegations from Peru

June 12, 2009

A Peruvian archbishop is accusing the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace of supporting pro-abortion groups in his country. In a letter dated May 28 but not sent until June 9, Archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren Anselmi, president of the Peruvian Conference of Catholic Bishops' Commission on the Family, Children and Life, tells Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' president Archbishop James Weisgerber he is "personally concerned about any funding from Catholics of Canada to pro-abortion groups in Peru." It's the latest turn in a controversy that began in February when LifeSiteNews.com accused Development and Peace of funding pro-abortion advocacy in Mexico.

Bishop Durocher brings message of solidarity with First Nations

June 12, 2009

OTTAWA - On behalf of Canada’s Catholic bishops, Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher brought a message of solidarity and hope with Canada's First Nations to the National Day of Reconciliation June 11. The day marked the first anniversary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s historic apology from the Canadian government for Indian residential schools. On Parliament Hill, Durocher spoke of Pope Benedict XVI’s words of deep regret, solidarity and hope spoken to aboriginal leaders in a private audience in late April in Rome.

Church institutions in Pakistan threatened with bomb attack

June 12, 2009

LAHORE, Pakistan - A Catholic Church centre in Pakistan's cosmopolitan eastern city of Lahore has been threatened with a suicide bomb attack, one of a series of intimidating messages given to Christians as the country's security crisis worsens. The threat was delivered June 10 to a Christian woman who lives next to Rabita Manzil, National Catholic Centre for Social Communications, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The centre includes the offices of the Workshop Audio Visual Education studio, Radio Veritas Asia's Urdu service and the UCA News.