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December 2009

December 18

Tree sales aid Out of the Cold

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - It’s been a Christmas tradition for the Flanagan family for the past 15 years: Selling Christmas trees for the Out of the Cold program. Volunteer Sonny Flanagan says he and his family are raising funds for a much-needed program in the city.

St. Vincent de Paul volunteers find a way to help

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - Society of St. Vincent de Paul volunteer Dave McLewin starts his car on a chilly December morning and prepares for a Christmas season visit with clients. “Business is certainly up,” he remarks during the drive to Nickeisha Hitchman’s apartment. Recipients in St. Basil’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul outreach program are up by 70 per cent since 2006, said McLewin, 71 and in his fourth year as a volunteer.

St. Michael's College gets its second lay principal

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - Terence Sheridan has been appointed principal of St. Michael’s College School, only the second lay person to hold the position in the school’s 157-year history. His appointment as the midtown Toronto school’s 28th principal takes effect in January. “As an alumnus Mr. Sheridan has a strong commitment to the traditions of St. Michael’s College School,” said college president Fr. Joseph Redican, C.S.B., in a statement.

Flu restrictions for Mass in Toronto lifted

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - You can shake hands at Mass again in Toronto. As the threat of the H1N1 flu virus retreats, Archbishop Thomas Collins has removed temporary restrictions that asked people to bow or otherwise make the sign of peace without shaking hands. He’s also cleared the way for people to begin receiving communion directly on the tongue again.

Canadian senate latest to call for action on poverty

December 18, 2009

A behemoth, 300-page report with 78 recommendations, the result of two years study and testimony from more than 175 witnesses, has anti-poverty activists hoping Canadians may start thinking and talking about poverty and how to solve it. In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness was tabled in the Senate Dec. 8. The government will have 150 days to respond to its findings and recommendations once Senators finish commenting on it in January.

Diplomatic surge needed for Afghanistan, not military

December 18, 2009

A “diplomatic surge,” including talks with willing Taliban leaders, should be the next step in Canada’s mission to Afghanistan, the majority of Canadian churches have told Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The governing council of the Canadian Council of Churches sent a letter and detailed brief to the Prime Minister Dec. 10 urging the government to invest heavily in diplomacy before Canada begins withdrawing troops in 2011.

G20 interfaith summit gains steam

December 18, 2009

When the 2010 G8 meeting in Huntsville, Ont., morphed into a G20 meeting in Toronto, organizers of the 2010 World Religious Summit were unfazed. “We saw this coming,” said Canadian Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton. “So we took this into consideration in the planning.”

Bells ring, drums beat for deal on climate change

December 18, 2009

In Kingston, Ont., church bells rang in solidarity with others around the world Dec. 13 to encourage a just deal against climate change at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen. The Sisters of Providence had encouraged 14 churches, temples and mosques in the Kingston area to join in with the global call for 350 bell tolls, meant to represent the 350 parts per million which scientists have said is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If worshippers did not have bells to clang, they were encouraged to offer alternative awareness activities.

Rosary, faithful family, friends lead priest to altar

December 18, 2009

The Montreal diocese received an early Christmas present in the form of its newest priest, Fr. François Charette. Charette, 31, was ordained for the diocese Dec. 11 after a 13-year journey that began with a conversion of heart, involvement in a pontifical lay community, parish work and missionary work in Latin America.

Irish bishop resigns over his handling of clerical sexual abuse

December 18, 2009

DUBLIN, Ireland - Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick has resigned after weeks of pressure over his handling of clerical sexual abuse when he served in the Dublin archdiocese. Speaking Dec. 17 after the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted his resignation, Murray told a large congregation in St. John's Cathedral in Limerick, "I humbly apologize once again to all who were abused as little children."

December 23

After Copenhagen, churches must educate voters, say climate activists

December 23, 2009

In the wake of what some describe as a tepid climate agreement in Copenhagen, Denmark, Catholic activists say church groups must focus on educating voters and lawmakers about climate science and policy. Faith, economics and the environment are interconnected, Kathy McNeely of the Maryknoll Global Concerns Office , who was in Copenhagen for the first week of the UN Climate Change Conference , told Catholic News Service.

December 24

Charitable donors try to alleviate world poverty

December 24, 2009

More than half of Canadians who give to charity are trying to do something about poverty and international development, according to an Ipsos Reid poll that probes Canadian patterns in giving. The 51 per cent of Canadians who chose to make their charitable donations to agencies that work in international development and poverty trails only the medical category which attracted 77 per cent of donors. Poverty and international development outpaced third-place environmental causes, which attracted 31 per cent of donors.

D&P prepared in case Philippines volcano erupts

December 24, 2009

Filipinos will be happy to see the back of 2009. As Christmas approaches the Filipino community is bracing for another natural disaster in their home country. The Mayon volcano, a 2,460-metre mountain in central Philippines, has been spewing lava, smoke and ash in a mild state of eruption since mid-December. Volcanologists expect the mountain to erupt more severely any day, and state authorities have called out police, soldiers and others to try to keep 47,000 evacuees in temporary shelters from sneaking back into their homes for Christmas.

December 30

We must seek the greater light

December 30, 2009

Epiphany (Year C) Jan. 3 (Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12) What does Epiphany mean in 2010? Epiphany has been celebrated for more than 2,000 years since the birth of Jesus but each year we must ask again what it means for us in our present situation lest it becomes just another feast on the liturgical calendar.

A joyful, godly life should be our gratitude to God

December 30, 2009

Baptism of the Lord (Year C) Jan. 10 (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 104; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22) It is difficult to read this passage from Isaiah without hearing the strains of Handel’s Messiah. These beautiful verses from Isaiah’s “book of comfort” fell on welcome ears — those of the exiles in Babylon. The suffering is over and done with; all of the negativity is in the past. No “blood and thunder” from God here, only tender speech and the image of a shepherd gathering and caring for the sheep. God has not forgotten them and God is not against them.

Welcoming the stranger

December 30, 2009

I see in my mind’s eye a stranger. She is about 28 and has short dark hair. She is standing in the doorway of my parish hall. She is quite noticeable because she is wearing a red cashmere sweater, a black knee-length skirt and beautiful boots. Her head is up, her shoulders are back, she looks quite confident and she seems alert and cheerful as she scans the room. Someone asks her if she is waiting in line for a cup of tea. She graciously apologizes for standing in the way, and joins the tea line.

Blair's non-Catholic approach in Iraq

December 30, 2009

The year comes to an end with what may well be one of the most significant political admissions in recent history. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that even if he had known Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction he would still have declared war on Iraq. In other words, the WMD casus belli is, as many of us assumed, utterly bogus. It also seems likely that Blair never believed that there were any such weapons and that intelligence experts had told him and U.S. President George W. Bush this for months before the invasion. It’s particularly important in the case of Blair because, unlike Bush, he still enjoys enormous international prestige, has a thriving political career and is known to be a highly sophisticated man. He was also received into the Roman Catholic Church with little scrutiny or apparent formation by a notably liberal British hierarchy. He had led Britain through a period of infamously anti-family, anti-marriage and anti-Catholic legislation and has never shown any contrition for his failings.

Lots of work needed to save vulnerable

December 30, 2009

Rimbocchiamoci le maniche is something my Italian father always says when there is much work to be done. Literally, it means to roll up one’s sleeves, but the idea behind it is to prepare ourselves for the hard work ahead. This could well be what we are being asked to do as Christians at the close of the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen. Depending on whom you ask, the accord that came out of the climate summit could be considered “realistic,” as maintained by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, an “essential beginning,” as stated by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, or “a weak and morally reprehensible deal,” according to the Catholic Church through its international development agencies CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis .

Canadian government dishonest on KAIROS

December 30, 2009

By linking KAIROS with anti-Semitic organizations, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has probably revealed more about the Conservative government than the church-based agency that has blindly (maybe naively) wandered into the government cross-hairs. None of it is flattering. Speaking in Jerusalem on Dec. 18, Kenney told the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism that the government had implemented zero-tolerance standards for anti-Semitism. Laudable so far. But when Kenney rhymed off several organizations that lost their funding due to unacceptable practices, the list included KAIROS, the multi-faith partnership of church groups that includes the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Anti-Semitism claim shocks KAIROS

December 30, 2009

KAIROS and it’s supporters have reacted with shock, dismay, anger and bewilderment at being called anti-Semitic by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney at a conference in Jerusalem. “We have de-funded organizations, most recently, like KAIROS who are taking a leadership role in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign” against Israel, Kenney told the Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism Dec. 16.