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February 2010

February 11

Vancouver church is ready for the world

February 11, 2010

As February dawned the Games were already on for British Columbia Catholics getting ready to welcome Olympic athletes, media and fans for the XXI Winter Games. “I was in the athletes’ village this morning, just making sure everything is set up for Mass tomorrow morning,” Msgr. Jerry Desmond told The Catholic Register just days before the opening ceremonies.

February 12

Ignatieff's sad argument

February 12, 2010

In previous editions, The Catholic Register has called abortion-on-demand Canada’s greatest collective sin and our government’s inaction on the issue our greatest national shame. Now opposition leader Michael Ignatieff is calling on the government to export our abortion culture overseas as part of an otherwise worthy government initiative to provide basic health care for sick and dying women and children. Bishop Fred Henry and Archbishop Thomas Collins got it right when, respectively, they called Ignatieff’s comments “pathetic” and “astonishing.”

God is on our side, but who is on His?

February 12, 2010

In between settling Massachusetts and beheading English monarchs, 17th-century Puritans used to have the most interesting of conversations. Oliver Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton were once putting the world to rights around the supper table when Ireton suggested that all would be well because, after all, “God is on our side.” Cromwell paused, smiled and then said, “It’s an odd thing Mr. Ireton that all men claim God to be on their side. I venture God should often wonder who is on His.” Whatever his crimes in Ireland and his banning of the Christmas pudding, Cromwell was no fool. God is with us. Glorious but dangerous words. At their most violent and obvious they justify slaughter, in the contemporary west they are used to support political positions:

Remembering a beloved widow

February 12, 2010

At this time of year, I think about a little widow in a trench coat and beret. Every Sunday for many years, she walked or took a bus to my street, chatting with the driver, and came clicking along the road in her boots or high-heeled sandals to my house. At first her hair was dyed a uniform silver, and at last it was white as the filling of the vanilla cream cookies she brought with her. This was my grandmother Gladys. She was widowed at 60 and lived to be 86. For 26 years she was my principal model for the single life.

God alone

February 12, 2010

First Sunday of Lent (Year C) Feb. 21 (Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13) Ingratitude is a poison of the heart and soul and many suffer its deadly effects. For so many, the glass is always half empty rather than half full and there is a corresponding willingness to focus on lack rather than abundance.

Saints win a sign of hope for New Orleans

February 12, 2010

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond said the New Orleans Saints’ win in Super Bowl XLIV was “not just a football victory.” “I think it’s another sign of hope in that our rebuilding is not just a possibility — it’s a reality,” the New Orleans native said after the underdog Saints, playing in their first Super Bowl, won in a 31-17 comeback over the Indianapolis Colts.

Haitian relief total climbs

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - Canadians have raised $113 million for Haitian relief following that nation’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, a significant chunk of that coming from Catholics. Beverley Oda, Minister of International Co-operation, announced Feb. 8 that $113 million in “eligible donations” had been raised by Canadians and would be matched by the government as promised with the creation of the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund Jan. 14.

Spiritually starved heard at The Listening Post

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - In prayer and silence, the brains behind Toronto’s Listening Post patiently await visitors to their unique ministry at Danforth and Broadview three times a week. Deacon Robert Kinghorn and Eusebia da Silva, both experienced in spiritual direction, have opened a space for the city’s spiritually starved to sit in silence or find a listening ear to their problems.

Maple school deals with student deaths

February 12, 2010

MAPLE, Ont. - A wooden cross now stands at the crash site which took the lives of two St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School students earlier this month. A busload of students from the Toronto suburb of Maple school gathered two days after the accident, led by principal Antonella Rubino, to pray for their friends, Ryan Sheridan, 17, and Niko Di Iorio, 15. The students were killed in a car crash on Feb. 1.

Sisters continue prayers for Haiti

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - A religious sister who survived the January earthquake in Haiti reflected on her experience at a prayer vigil in Nathan Phillips Square Feb. 9. “When you pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ think of the Haitians,” said Sr. Mary Alban, CSJ.

Restoration help St. John's reconnect with its past

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - St. John’s Church isn’t what it used to be, but to Lynn East it feels like home. “This is lovely. It’s like coming home again,” said East as she gazed from the back pew up toward the altar. East was married at St. John’s on Kingston Road in Toronto’s east end in 1969. Shortly after her wedding the church went through major, post-Concilliar surgery. Not only was the communion rail taken down and the altar turned around, but the icons painted on the wall behind the altar were painted over and the grotto-like shrine for Mary filled in, covering up one of the church’s stained glass windows.

School boards reject gender studies course

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - Most larger Catholic school boards in Ontario say they’re taking the Ontario bishops’ advice and rejecting a gender studies course being proposed by the Ministry of Education. The Toronto, Dufferin-Peel, Halton, Ottawa and Windsor Catholic District School Boards will not implement the course which could be introduced as part of the high school curriculum as early as September.

Valentine's Day calls us to search for true love

February 12, 2010

Valentine’s Day always brings a plethora of images to my mind. The first is a picture of a bishop, ministering to young couples through the streets of third-century Italy — though, I have to admit, I didn’t know it was third century Italy I was imagining until I read more about St. Valentine. As I was reading, I was surprised to find that we know so little about this saint except his name and that he was buried beside a road leading to Rome on Feb. 14.

Youthfest explores vocation call

February 12, 2010

During the mid-1800s, Italian priest Fr. John Bosco was determined to get youth to come into deeper communion with Jesus Christ. Bosco put on elaborate shows and performed acrobatics like juggling and tightrope walking. After wowing them with his feats, he would share the Gospel with youth, touching their hearts and changing their lives.

Youth focus on euthanasia

February 12, 2010

With Bill C-384 slated for a second hour of debate once Parliament resumes, students are joining in the fight to prevent the passage of a bill that would legalize euthanasia in Canada. Nathan Welch is one such student. Welch lives in London, Ont., and studies social work at the University of Western Ontario. He is a leader in his campus pro-life club.

The 'Oprahfication' of forgiveness

February 12, 2010

Forgiveness: One Step at a Time by Joseph F. Sica (Novalis, softcover, 142 pages, $15.95). Alas, by the end of chapter one, I was trying hard not to be cynical about this book. This goes beyond my own ongoing struggles with forgiveness. I had read Sr. Helen Prejean’s endorsement on the back cover, in which she says this book will change lives. But the book starts with a clichéd story about a woman named Betsy whose husband has left her for another woman. Betsy, naturally enough, wants revenge and plenty of it: “I want to get even!” she screams at the author, a priest and her spiritual mentor. “I want him to hurt like I hurt!” The scenario and the tired dialogue in particular sounded made up.

February 13

Church leaders, pro-life MPs call Ignatieff's call for abortion ‘pathetic’

February 13, 2010

TORONTO - It is “astonishing” and “pathetic” that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is advocating that Canada fund overseas abortions as part of a strategy to improve health care for women and children, said Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Calgary Bishop Fred Henry. The bishops were responding to statements made by the opposition leader after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada, as president of the G8, would champion an international initiative to bring basic health care to mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries. Ignatieff declared his party would only support the initiative if Harper’s measures included provisions for abortion and contraception.

A Valentine's spiritual reflection

February 13, 2010

TORONTO - Valentine’s Day meets with spirituality through a special dinner some parishes have adopted to help couples strengthen their relationship and rekindle romances. Table for Two surfaced for the first time at St. Patrick’s parish in Toronto this year, hosted by the Redemptorists. It is modelled on a similar event at a Redemptorist parish in Winnipeg.

February 19

Former military chaplain faces sexual assault charges

February 19, 2010

OTTAWA - A former military Chaplain General, a Roman Catholic, has been charged with sexual assault following alleged incidents 38 years ago at Canadian Forces Base Borden. Military investigators confirmed the charge on Feb. 16. The current Chaplain General, Brigadier-General David Kettle, issued a statement in which he said his office is co-operating fully in an investigation by the Military Police and the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Irish bishops must face abuse fallout

February 19, 2010

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said priestly sexual abuse was a “heinous crime” and a grave sin, and he urged Irish bishops to act courageously to repair their failures to deal properly with such cases. At the end of a two-day Vatican summit on the sex abuse scandal in Ireland, the Vatican said in a statement Feb. 16 that “errors of judgment and omissions” were at the heart of the crisis. It said church leaders recognized the sense of “pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame” that those errors have provoked among many Irish Catholics.