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August 2009

August 4

Pope deplores latest killings of Christians in Pakistan

August 4, 2009

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI deplored the killing of eight Christians in Pakistan by a Muslim mob and urged the minority Christian community not to be deterred by the attack. The Christians, including four women and a child, were either shot or burned alive Aug. 1 when a crowd attacked the eastern Pakistani town of Gojra, setting fire to dozens of Christian homes. Authorities said tensions were running high in the area, fueled by a false rumour that a Quran, the sacred book of Islam, had been desecrated.

August 5

Supreme Knight optimistic pro-life voice is being heard

August 5, 2009

PHOENIX, Arizona - Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus , has called on those who “say they want to reduce the number of abortions” to join with pro-life groups to implement a strategy that has proven results in reducing abortion by up to 90 per cent.

August 6

Cory Aquino remembered for her strong faith

August 6, 2009

TORONTO - Corazon “Cory” Aquino’s courage in standing up to a feared dictator, says Toronto-based journalist Hermie Garcia, is what many Filipino Canadians admired about the late Philippines president. Mrs. Aquino, 76, died Aug. 1 after a year-long battle with colon cancer. Garcia, the founding editor of Toronto’s The Philippine Reporter , said Mrs. Aquino’s death saddens many Filipinos in Toronto.

Palliative care is an option

August 6, 2009

Michele Chaban doesn’t want the option of asking her doctor to kill her, but she thinks she’s probably going to get it. Chaban is one of Canada’s leading experts on how we die and the care we provide to the dying. She counsels dying patients and their families and teaches the subject at the University of Toronto and the University of Wales. She has also lived with a spinal cord injury for 26 years. “I get scared sometimes that somebody is going to say, ‘Well, you’re not really a helpful member of society, and you’re not producing anything, and so we don’t need you any more,’ ” Chaban told The Catholic Register.

Toronto couple's missionary experience cut short by Honduran coup

August 6, 2009

TORONTO - It was just after Sunday Mass when missionaries-in-training Maggie and Mark Banga learned about the military coup in Honduras. Although it was an abrupt ending to their mission work, the Bangas say this experience has taught them invaluable lessons about missionary life. The 30-year-old couple, parishioners at Toronto’s Newman Centre, had been volunteering with Mission Honduras International, a U.S.-based Catholic Franciscan charity in Comayagua, northwest of Honduras’ capital Tegucigalpa since April. The Bangas were teaching kids English and about computers at a local school. Maggie was also working with single mothers who were learning how to make and sell rosary bracelets The couple was scheduled to finish the placement in mid-July when the coup happened.

Let's talk real dignity

August 6, 2009

With a contentious debate looming on the parliamentary horizon, Archbishop James Weisgerber is urging his fellow bishops to awaken Canadian Catholics to the dangers in proposed legislation that would legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia. The wakeup call was issued by the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter addressed to bishops but with words intended for us all.

Dialogue between adversaries is essential

August 6, 2009

“A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. A Proverb for our times. The recent murder of the U.S. abortionist George Tiller, purportedly as an act of justifiable homicide to protect the unborn, was a horrendous event marked by contradictions and paradoxes that reverberate still. Everyone should meditate on the link, if any, between words, deeds, anger, despair, violence and hatred.

We need more Thomas More's

August 6, 2009

The cell at the Tower of London in which Thomas More spent his final months is no longer open to the public. It’s simply too small to accommodate the 2.5-million tourists who visit this unique historical location every year and, anyway, when it was formerly part of the open display one particularly zealous pilgrim threw herself on the stone floor in a crucifix position and could not be removed for four hours. The great Sir Thomas, renowned for his sense of humour, would surely have appreciated the pithy absurdity of the situation. He certainly appreciated his own dilemma and also the ease with which the doors could have opened and his freedom and reputation restored. All he had to do was deny church teaching, agree to an end to papal supremacy and abandon his support for genuine marriage.

Episcopal Church troubles pain me

August 6, 2009

One of the most painful events of my summer so far has been watching the Episcopal Church in the United States stab itself in the heart. This church was my spiritual home before I came to Canada in 1969. It was a good one to be in during my young years: biblical, yet theologically imaginative, rooted in Christian traditions far older than the English Reformation, blessed with splendid liturgy and a rich heritage of devotion. If I am not an Anglican today, it’s because I ceased to find that rootedness in Scripture and tradition in American or Canadian Anglicanism, and found it in the Catholic Church.

Avoiding the detour

August 6, 2009

How can I help? A question that lurks everywhere, ubiquitous with suffering. Emerging into adulthood, I discovered the world is tilted: a few at the rich end, a multitude at the poor end. More shocking: everyone knew, and still it didn’t change. Didn’t people want to help? Or were they unable? Recently, a 16-year-old let go his fury. He’d been raging a long time, repeated arrests, failure in school and nothing seemed better; childhood traumas had erected mountains he couldn’t scale. Family and professionals had seemingly tried and failed. Why couldn’t love help?

Recognizing God in nature

August 6, 2009

For many of us summer is our peak time of interaction with nature. We spend more time than ever outdoors, enjoying activities such as gardening, visiting local parks, going to the beach, attending sporting events, picnicking, hiking, cycling, attending outdoor concerts and festivals, stargazing and vacationing in the woods or by the water. We also enjoy the many fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables available locally, some perhaps from our own garden. Unfortunately, this is also the time of year when our consumption of — and damage to — Earth’s resources tends to be highest, due to often excessive lawn and garden watering and car washing, increased car travel (day tripping or driving back and forth to the cottage) and use of pesticides, gas-powered lawn mowers, air conditioners and motorboats, among other things.

Conquering your life's crows

August 6, 2009

I often struggle to separate myself from situations where I know that I will be tempted to turn away from my Christian values, especially when I’m sure that my friends will think differently of me. I’ve also felt guilty when I’d either neglect time with God for my friends, or vice versa. This guilty mentality finally stopped when I attended a Christian youth camp where a minister from Southfield, Michigan, named David John (DJ) delivered a talk called “It’s YOUR life.”

Eternal life comes with being open to God

August 6, 2009

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Aug. 9 (1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51) Few would argue that life is easy. Each life brings its share of hardships, pain and disappointments, as well as blessings and joys. Even the lives of those who “have it all” are often visited by suffering and sorrow.

Jesus lifts us above the ordinary

August 6, 2009

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Aug. 16 (Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58) When we hear the word “banquet” it often triggers thoughts of rubber chicken and tedious speeches. Not so in the Bible: both Testaments employ the banquet metaphor to describe an invited encounter with a gracious God.

August 7

Department of Peace initiative launched

August 7, 2009

A private members’ bill to establish a Canadian Department of Peace will soon be before Parliament, perhaps as early as the fall. British Columbia MP Bill Siksay jumped on board the six-year-old campaign advocating for a Department of Peace just a few years ago, and recently volunteered to write the legislation for the private members’ bill he hopes to table in September.

August 8

Ontario Knights top charitable fundraisers

August 8, 2009

PHOENIX, Arizona - Led by donations from Canadian councils, the Knights of Columbus bucked the recession this past year to break its own record for fund raising by donating more than $150 million to worldwide charities.

August 18

Papal encyclical tells us to 'Think!' and 'Love!'

August 18, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pope Benedict XVI opened his new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, with these words: “To all people of good will, on integral human development in charity and truth ...” So what might Caritas in Veritate do for a poor African woman infected with HIV? And can she help a reader of The Catholic Register grasp what the Holy Father is saying? I thought of Rosanna, an abandoned mother in her 20s, HIV-positive, struggling to get by in a Nairobi slum. “Six years down the line,” she says, “my family has not accepted me, not my mother or sisters or husband. I’ve lost jobs because I’m positive.”

Toronto board trustees to meet Aug. 24

August 18, 2009

TORONTO - Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees will be meeting Aug. 24 for their first public meeting since having their powers stripped from them by a provincial supervisor. Trustees John del Grande and Rob Davis set up the meeting to be held at the Catholic Education Centre on Sheppard Avenue East at 7 p.m. “It’s to give parents and students an opportunity to have an influence on decisions made by the board and make sure their voices are heard,” Davis told The Catholic Register.

August 24

Toronto trustees have plug pulled on Aug. 24 meeting

August 24, 2009

TORONTO - With the abrupt cancellation of what would have been the first public meeting of embattled Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees since January, parents have been “shut out” of sharing power with the board, say two trustees. Trustees John Del Grande and Rob Davis had set up an Aug. 24 meeting at the Catholic Education Centre for trustees to meet with parent and Catholic community groups. But provincially appointed board supervisor Norbert Hartmann revoked permission for the trustees, working under the name Association of Catholic Trustees, to use the board's headquarters.

Pakistan blasphemy laws need to be revoked

August 24, 2009

Pakistan’s blasphemy law should be re-examined and the government of Pakistan should be held responsible for protecting its Christian minority, the president of the Canadian Islamic Congress told The Catholic Register. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are at issue in a mob attack on Christians in the Punjabi village of Gojra July 30 to Aug. 1. Stirred up by local Muslim legal experts, or ulema, about 1,500 Muslims burned six Christians alive and shot another, killing seven in total, according to a report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace of Pakistan’s conference of Catholic bishops.