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January 5, 2010
Though he has been attacked in the street, had to be moved to a safe house and is now so depressed he only speaks in whispers, a 14-year-old refugee stranded alone in Accra, Ghana, still does not qualify for urgent or expedited processing, according to Immigration Canada officials handling the case. (See - Tamil refugee boy in immigration limbo.) If the Canadian High Commission in Accra manages to process the boy refugee in the standard 37 months it takes to get through the paperwork, the boy will be 18 when he is finally reunited with his surviving family in Toronto.
January 7, 2010
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has said goodbye to 2009, but his 2010 calendar is already being filled. On the horizon for the next 12 months are four papal trips; a Middle East Synod of Bishops; the expected publication of a document on the Bible and the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth; a major gathering of the world’s priests; a pilgrimage to the Shroud of Turin; a probable consistory and several likely canonizations and beatifications — including that of Pope John Paul II.
January 8, 2010
The recent security measures announced by Ottawa may be good and ultimately necessary but they represent a troubling infringement on privacy and should be stalled until they can be brought to Parliament for a full and proper debate. But that debate is not in the cards. Parliament was prorogued in December and will not resume until March. By then, according to Transport Minister John Baird, travellers in eight Canadian cities could be facing full body screening — virtual strip searches — as scanning machines are installed at airports.
I first heard black gospel singing in the fields of my father’s cotton farm, deep in the American South. No sound was more Southern: slow, serious and melancholy, like the lives of those hard-up blacks who worked in the cotton patch. In one sense, this sad, unforgettable music was foreign to a white child spending the day with his father in the fields. Yet in another, it was close, familiar: for Southern rural religion in those days, whether black or white, was very much a matter of supplicating the beloved Jesus for deliverance from the sorrows and tribulations of life. It probably wasn’t exactly orthodox, this near-exclusive adoration of Jesus and corresponding neglect of the remote Father and ungraspable Spirit. But such religion sprang from a true place in the heart, especially the hearts of rural black Southerners, and found expression in their sincere and devout melodies.
Are New Year’s resolutions still popular? Probably: gyms tend to be flooded with new members in January. Sometimes we make resolutions knowing we won’t be perfect, but committing to the walk anyway. Several decades ago, the Catholic Church resolved to work towards full communion with other Christian communities. At times, we’re unaware of the pain of non-communion; when we do feel it, it can be powerful.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Jan. 17 (Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 96; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-12) We are all familiar with the cliché “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Cliché or not, most clichés bear an important truth. In this case we are warned about making judgments — either positive or negative — based on external appearances and popular values.
I find the circumstances of my birth quite interesting in light of public efforts to pass Bill C-384. When I was born 15 weeks prematurely I weighed less than two pounds. I also had underdeveloped lungs and experienced extreme pain. To ease the pain, my doctors gave me morphine which I had a bad reaction to. I stopped breathing and my condition became critical. The doctors said I wouldn’t survive. If I did I would have a disability. Fortunately, while I did acquire cerebral palsy, I did not die. I was nursed back to health by dedicated doctors and nurses.
Charges against an American refugee advocate for bringing 12 Haitians to the U.S.-Quebec border where they claimed refugee status were quietly dropped in November. Janet Hinshaw-Thomas — founder of Prime — Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees in Pennsylvania and niece of the late theologian Cardinal Avery Dulles — was arrested in Lacolle, Que., Sept. 28, 2007. She had called ahead to say she was bringing 12 Haitian asylum-seekers. She had often brought refugees to Canadian border posts to file for refugee status.
On peace and on climate change Canada isn’t measuring up to Pope Benedict XVI’s vision for peace on Earth and good will toward men, according to life-long Conservative and retired Senator Doug Roche. The Pope’s message for World Day of Peace links progress toward peace to climate change and environmental degradation. The Vatican headlined the message “If you want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.”
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to press the reset button and ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament has postponed the vote on a number of pieces of legislation. It has postponed debate on a controversial private member’s euthanasia bill, guaranteed Conservative MP Joy Smith’s anti-human trafficking Bill C-268 will not become law before the Vancouver Olympics and stalled Liberal MP John McKay’s mining accountability Bill C-300, which had reached the committee stage in the House of Commons.
TORONTO - A congregation founded 400 years ago received a surprise ending last month to its year-long anniversary celebration. On Dec. 19, Pope Benedict XVI recognized the “heroic virtues” of Sr. Mary Ward, the English founder of the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary — also known as the Loretto Sisters — declaring her “venerable.”
TORONTO - Pope Benedict XVI appointed Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications on Jan. 5. He joins Fr. Tom Rosica of Salt+Light TV on the council. “I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about how the church can communicate and evangelize both locally and globally,” Collins told The Catholic Register in an e-mail.
TORONTO - The Ontario government needs to invest more in special education to narrow the $68-million funding gap that 29 Catholic school boards across the province face this school year, says the head of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association. “The problem with special education funding (in 2009-2010) and that gap is that boards are forced to take money out of other areas to fund the special education needs of our students,” Paula Peroni told The Catholic Register.
OSHAWA, Ont. - It could be at least two months before parishioners of St. Philip the Apostle parish in Oshawa celebrate Mass in their church after a fire broke out on Christmas Day. Fr. Callistus St. Louis, pastor of St. Philip’s, awoke to the church’s fire alarm and the smell of smoke at 5 a.m., Dec. 25. The rectory is attached to the church and the smoke was spreading into his residence. St. Louis called the fire department and escaped with mild smoke inhalation.
TORONTO - The Toronto Catholic District School Board has announced a preliminary list of 38 schools for the province’s new multi-billion dollar, full-day kindergarten program, slated to start next fall. About 63 full-day kindergarten classrooms will be open for an estimated 1,500 students in Catholic school boards across Ontario next year.
TORONTO - Fr. Henry Carr High School got a boost from the Toronto Police Service in its quest to build its state-of-the-art sports stadium. The police services board kicked in $50,000 to help make the northwest Toronto school’s dream become a reality.
Fuller, deeper and more meaningful prayers for Christian unity in Catholic parishes has to begin with the Jan. 17 to 24 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, say Catholics who have worked on preparing and promoting the annual event. “It’s the prime event in terms of ecumenical work together, prayer together,” said Jonas Abromaitis of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Abromaitis is commission secretary to the Episcopal Commission for Christian Unity, Religious Relations with the Jews and Interfaith Dialogue.
WINNIPEG - Catholic Christian Outreach is now looking to focus on better preparing its graduates as Christian leaders as they step out of their university communities. “We do not want our graduates dependent on CCO,” said Andre Regnier, co-founder of CCO, the Canadian university movement focused on evangelization and formation of students. “Our number one priority is to send them forth.”
January 11, 2010
TORONTO - Don't have a ticket for the big ordinations Jan. 12 and 13? Can't drive all the way to London or fight the traffic to St. Michael's Cathedral in downtown Toronto? No worries. You can be there to see Toronto's two new bishops ordained just sitting in front of your computer screen. Salt + Light TV, the digital television service that broadcasts World Youth Day-inspired Catholic programming in English and French, will be streaming the ordinations live on its web site.
January 12, 2010
TORONTO - For the first time in 30 years, Bishop-elect Vincent Nguyen will be together with his eight brothers and sisters in one place, but it won't happen until his ordination on Jan. 13. A last-minute snag delayed the youngest Nguyen brother, Hau. Hau tried to board the first international flight of his life carrying a hand-carved bishop's staff or crosier. It was not deemed appropriate carry-on luggage and by the time everything was sorted out the plane was gone. Arrangements had to be made for him to fly to Canada Jan. 12, when his big brother will be in London for Bishop-elect Bill McGrattan's ordination.