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July 2009

July 28

Media pundits should read it to find the truth

July 28, 2009

Not surprisingly there are many — mostly in the business community — who have serious reservations about Pope Benedict’s new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). Neil Reynolds of The Globe and Mail and Terence Corcoran of The Financial Post delight in savaging Benedict’s sustained reflection on “integral human development in charity and truth.” As “experts” in finance they pull no punches as they lambast the Pope for his insufficient regard for the sweet joys of capitalism, his failure to appreciate the fruits of the free market and globalization and his unhappy reliance on the spurious economic wisdom of his illustrious predecessor, Pope Paul VI. Unlike Reynolds — who appears to have read but a few papal snippets — Corcoran has paid the Pope the compliment of actually reading the text, at least to the extent that he has counted the number of footnotes. There is one particular passage in Corcoran’s minimalist and polemical exegesis that stands out as a real howler: “as with all encyclicals. . . the attacks are incoherent, inconsistent, unsupported and mostly catalogues of conventional leftist theories.” John Paul II must be rolling in his grave.

Ministry isn't a human right, it's a privilege

July 28, 2009

It has certainly been an interesting summer for the church in Canada. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops defended the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace against Catholic bloggers, a relapsed Catholic sued his bishop for the surprising new “human right” to serve at the altar and Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his First Communion. I have been abroad, attending a Sunday Missa Cantata in the church where my new husband sings in the men’s schola. He sometimes has to work on Sundays; when this happens, I sit in a pew near the middle of the church. But when he is free to sing, I sit with the men’s schola in the back pews reserved for them.

God assures us there is more than enough for all

July 28, 2009

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) July 26 (2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15) Many have attempted to separate the Old and the New Testament and even to build a barrier between them. But both testaments speak to each other for they both witness to the action of the same loving God. Each of the testaments is unique, as is each individual book within them. And Christians can in no way expropriate the Old Testament for themselves and claim to be its only legitimate interpreters.

'Believe in Him whom He has sent'

July 28, 2009

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Aug. 2 (Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, 31; Psalm 78; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35) People often idealize the past and forget the painful struggles and difficulties that they experienced. Previous jobs or living conditions become the source of nostalgia and wistful longing when we face the difficulties and struggles of the present. In the years following the momentous changes of 1989, many cast wistful eyes back to the period of communist rule. Things were “better” economically and there was “law and order.” The terror and lack of freedom were forgotten.

Exploring the dark side of the brain

July 28, 2009

Cruelty: Human Evil and the Human Brain , by Kathleen Taylor (Oxford University Press, hard cover, $34.95 [U.S.]). Could eradicating cruelty ever become government policy? According to Kathleen Taylor, author of Cruelty: Human Evil and the Human Brain, it should. Such policy might involve stronger punishment for cruel behaviour, pedagogical programs aimed at fostering empathy in children and the encouragement of openness and acceptance. It would require human beings to admit that our societies — and we ourselves — are capable of cruelty and are often perpetrators of cruel actions. It would also entail that we re-inject moral parametres into our concrete societal objectives. Taylor thinks this is desirable — that is, if we all agree on a definition of cruelty and its causes.

Cultural differences open Canadian student's eyes in Ecuador

July 28, 2009

It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments, standing at the base of Chimborazo, a dormant volcano, its snow-capped peak rising high above the Andes Mountains — just one of many once-in-a-lifetime experiences I had in Ecuador. The magnificent scenery was one perk of joining 25 students from across North America to spend two-and-a-half weeks building a school with Free the Children, a charitable organization devoted to freeing children from poverty and exploitation.

Journey to the Father still strong after 10 years

July 28, 2009

ST. RAPHAEL’S, Ont. - Towering ruins of an 18th-century church, large white tents and a procession of the cross led by bagpipes represent for many teens the setting for “a really awesome time.” At the roots of the English-speaking church in the province, amidst the rolling hills of St. Raphael’s (pronounced locally as St. “Raffles”), 500 teens and almost as many volunteers gather every year for an extreme boost in their faith journey. They come to attend Journey to the Father, a Catholic teen conference hosted by the diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall that features talks, workshops, adoration, Mass, the rosary, music led by The Mustard Seeds from Hanover, Ont., a talent show and more.

WYD journey in Sydney only the beginning

July 28, 2009

It has been one year since those glorious Australian sun-filled days when the streets of Sydney overflowed with faithful pilgrims from around the world. Thousands of pilgrims, Canadians included, arrived with hearts full of joy for World Youth Day 2008, one of the largest events Australia has ever hosted. WYD08 has had a deep and special impact on me. For two years, I had the privilege of working on the preparations for WYD08 and this exposed me to the beauty of the Universal Church. During my time at WYD I also learned the great importance of evangelization within the media and when used positively, the tremendous impact that it has on people’s faith journey.

July 29

Newspaper apologizes for story that sparked Harper Communion controversy

July 29, 2009

OTTAWA - A New Brunswick newspaper has apologized for a July 8 story that wrongly accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of pocketing Communion at a Catholic funeral. The story also said a senior Roman Catholic priest had demanded the prime minister explain what happened to the Host.

July 30

Catholic priest, nuns minister in Afghanistan

July 30, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan - In the midst of the escalating war in Afghanistan, there is a place of peace for Kabul's tiny Catholic population. Inside the Italian Embassy compound visitors will find a small white building marked simply with a cross. Its guardian is the shepherd of Kabul, Barnabite Father Giuseppe Moretti. A warm 70-year-old Italian with graying hair and a sharp sense of humour, Moretti is the only full-time priest in Afghanistan.

Development and Peace works on protocols for distribution of funds

July 30, 2009

TORONTO - Getting individual bishops or bishops' conferences to sign off on more than $16 million worth of projects is complicated, but Canada's Catholic development agency is willing to get those signatures and reassure the bishops it's working with the church when it chooses partners. "The good news is that we're dialoguing on this," said Michael Casey, executive director of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. "They've expressed their support for Development and Peace."

Tests on apostle Paul's tomb find bone fragments

July 30, 2009

ROME - Closing the year of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI announced that tests done on the presumed tomb of the Apostle revealed the presence of bone fragments from a human who lived between the first and second century. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," the Pope said during an evening prayer service June 28 at Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.