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April 2010

April 29

The Church must make amends to save its soul

April 29, 2010

The recent revelations of sexual abuse by some Roman Catholic clergy and alleged cover-ups by some bishops reveal a growing concern of a structural problem within the Church that goes beyond the misdeeds of a few bad people within the ministry. At the heart of every case of clergy sexual abuse is the fracturing of faith, religion and trust, and the erosion of hope in a God of love and a Church of compassion and communion. Every new allegation is like a dagger to the very soul of who we are as a family of God. Each new case causes more brokenness, darkness, anger, shame and pain. Every act of clergy sexual abuse is an onslaught on the dignity of the human person, a distortion of religion as a value and the desecration of the very identity of the Catholic faith. Clerical sexual abuse eats at the moral authority of a Church working to heal a broken world.

Helping students on the path to self-discovery

April 29, 2010

Catherine MacDonald [images/stories/education/education10/MacDonald.jpg]Durham Catholic District School Board teacher Catherine MacDonald didn’t expect to bump into anyone she knew, particularly one of her students, while visiting a Viking exhibit in Ireland. But a few years ago, the archeology and history teacher at Fr. Leo J. Austin Catholic High School in Whitby, Ont., heard someone call out for “Ms. MacDonald” and turned around to see a former student on a graduation trip.

Opening the world to students in his little part of Canada

April 29, 2010

Joe Tersigni [images/stories/education/education10/Tersigni.jpg]After Pope John Paul II’s death in 2005, students in Joe Tersigni’s Grade 10 history class reminisced via webcam with teens from the Pope’s former high school in Poland about his legacy. It’s this kind of interactive teaching style that has left an impact on students, earning the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School teacher in Guelph, Ont., a Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence as one of the province’s “teachers of the year” in 2008-2009.

U.S. bishops mobilize support for arms pact

April 29, 2010

peace treaty [images/stories/international/international10/nukeTreaty.jpg]WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate ratification of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is a moral imperative and a necessary step toward the eventual goal of total nuclear disarmament, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore said. Speaking during an April 26 panel discussion on the ethics of President Barack Obama’s nuclear weapons policy hosted by The Catholic University of America, O’Brien urged senators to cast aside partisan differences and approve the START agreement, which calls for what he described as “modest reductions” in American and Russian nuclear arsenals.

Economy to blame as ShareLife slashed funding to D&P

April 29, 2010

ShareLife and D&P [images/stories/logos/logos10/shareLifeDP.jpg]TORONTO - The archdiocese of Toronto is giving 20-per-cent less to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace this year because ShareLife fell short of its fundraising goal last year and the recession has hit local Catholic agencies with increased demand for services. The ShareLife advisory board cut its allocation to Development and Peace to $900,000 this year, a $225,000 reduction from last year’s contribution of $1.125 million.

Ontario Catholic schools will follow Catholic doctrine

April 29, 2010

Catholic Education [images/stories/education/education10/catholicEducation.jpg]TORONTO - Ontario’s public Catholic schools will always assert their right to teach students Catholic doctrine on matters of faith and morality, says the Institute of Catholic Education. “When it comes to matters of faith and morality, denominational rights accorded to the Catholic schools of Ontario supersede any Government of Ontario directives which are at variance with the teachings of the church,” said ICE executive director Sr. Joan Cronin.

Abortion is not on Canada's maternal health plan plate

April 29, 2010

Prime Minister Stephen Harper [images/stories/canada/canada10/HarperFlags.jpg]OTTAWA - Canada will not include abortion in its G8 maternal health initiative, despite pressure from Opposition parties and foreign governments. “Canadians want to see the foreign aid money used for things to help save the lives of women and children in ways that unite the Canadian people,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said April 27 in response to a question from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff who accused the government of reversing Canada’s 25-year-old “consensus” on the issue.

Combining faith and aboriginal roots

April 29, 2010

Verna Hardwick [images/stories/education/education10/Hardwick.jpg]Sudbury Catholic Schools’ native language teacher Verna Hardwick combines her aboriginal roots and Catholic faith in the classroom, sharing her gift of song and First Nations culture to students who have lost touch with their own language and roots. Hardwick, 57, recently released a CD entitled Aanii (which means “hello” in Ojibwe) with songs featuring drumming and sung in the native language. This CD is now a teaching tool in her classes at St. David and St. Raphael Catholic School.

Msgr. Dennis Murphy's leadership in Catholic education recognized

April 29, 2010

Msgr. Dennis Murphy [images/stories/education/education10/msgrDennisMurphy.jpg]Former Prime Minister John Turner, environmentalist David Suzuki and former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin all share something in common with long-time Catholic educator Msgr. Dennis Murphy. They have all been honoured with a National Leadership Award from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in Guelph, Ont. On May 3, Murphy joins the impressive list of the school’s past honourees. He will also be the first clergy to receive the award. Murphy, 75, said he was surprised by the award because he retired from the Catholic education scene about eight years ago.

New World Religions text introduced this fall

April 29, 2010

World Religions [images/stories/education/education10/worldReligion.jpg]TORONTO - The first-ever Grade 11 world religion textbook from a Canadian Catholic perspective is coming to Ontario Catholic schools this fall. World Religions: A Canadian Catholic Perspective is published by Novalis Publishing Inc. and Nelson Education Ltd. and will update the previous text that had been used for the Grade 11 course. In 2008, the Assembly of Bishops of Ontario (then known as the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops) commissioned the Institute for Catholic Education to write a proposal and approach publishing companies to have the textbook written.

Iraqi children find a home in Toronto school

April 29, 2010

St. Andrew’s Schoool [images/stories/education/education10/pupils.jpg]TORONTO - Like most refugees in Canada, Khulood Jarjass appreciates her new homeland for its relative safety, the freedom, the opportunity to dream again of a future for herself and her family. But what really excites the mother of three and former high school math teacher is a free Catholic education for her kids. “When I heard in Canada it’s free — Oh my God!” she said. “I was so happy.” Her kids range in age from seven to 13, Grades 2 to 7, all in St. Andrew’s in Toronto’s Rexdale neighbourhood. The Jarjass kids spent a year-and-a-half in crowded Syrian classrooms with a mass of other refugee students. Their teachers couldn’t help but look at the Iraqi students as an added burden and the Syrian kids saw the Iraqis as invaders in their schools. Syrian and Iraqi kids fought in and out of the classrooms.

Rose of Sharon has helped teen mothers for 25 years

April 29, 2010

Rose of Sharon [images/stories/features/feature10/rosseOfSharon.jpg]NEWMARKET, Ont. - When Tabatha Spooner was 16 years old she imagined herself becoming a dance instructor. That was when she was just a kid. Now, she has a kid. His name is Joshua Crilly and he’s 14 months old. Having a child has changed a lot of things in 19-year-old Spooner’s life. The biggest change is her mind.

What youth lack in their relationship with God

April 29, 2010

Dear youth: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit exist. They are real, so is Mother Mary, and I have experienced their intercession in my life more times than I can count. The Bible is a living text, directly inspired by God, and I have been a witness to its truth. Wait, you don’t need me to tell you these things. You read publications like this one because you already know all this — because you are a believer. As believers though, are we complete in our relationships with God simply because we know He exists? I can’t speak for the lot of us. However, based on experience, there are a few epiphanies I can share regarding what it is we — as youth — lack in our relationships with Him.

Summit invites youth to be sent

April 29, 2010

Ottawa Youth Summit 2010 [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/youthSummit.jpg]Canada’s capital will play host to its first Youth Summit this month, taking the torch from Quebec City which started hosting the youth gatherings in 2005. The bilingual event in Ottawa May 21-24 promises to draw up to 500 young adults, ages 17-35, who will participate in activities and events centred around the theme “Sent!” According to organizers, the theme is meant to bring participants to reflect on their personal role “as missionaries in today’s Church, particularly amidst other young adults.”

Malaria Day crosses religious divide

April 29, 2010

Malaria Day [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/malariaDay.jpg]TORONTO - Student advocates for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation mobilized their school communities to take action against malaria in cities around the world for World Malaria Day April 25. The foundation, created by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, aims to promote respect and understanding about the world’s major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good, using the eradication of malaria as a common goal. Students in Toronto were no exception.

Toronto welcomes Maltese archbishop

April 29, 2010

Maltese Archbishop Paul Cremona, O.P. [images/stories/international/international10/Cremona.jpg]TORONTO - Canada’s Maltese communities will roll out the red carpet this month for a special visit by Maltese Archbishop Paul Cremona, O.P. Cremona was to first visit Windsor, London and Michigan from April 30-May 3 before spending May 7-14 in Toronto, home to the largest Maltese-Canadian population. “This is an opportunity for the community to have their faith renewed and confirmed by his presence,” said Fr. Carmelo Borg, MSSP, pastor at Toronto’s only Maltese parish, St. Paul the Apostle Church.

Sr. June Dwyer a YWCA 'Woman of Distinction'

April 29, 2010

Sr. June Dwyer [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/JuneDwyer.jpg]TORONTO - For the past 15 years, Sr. June Dwyer, 72, has been helping women escape the cycle of addiction and violence at Nazareth House, a transitional home in downtown Toronto for women and their newborns. But the Sister of St. Joseph couldn’t believe her ears when she learned she would receive the YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Award for Health and Healing on May 12 for doing her job.

Northern bishop Chatlain takes time to learn aboriginal reality

April 29, 2010

Mackenzie-Fort Smith Bishop Murray Chatlain [images/stories/canada_bishops/chatlain.jpg]TORONTO - Serving in Canada’s northern mission dioceses requires a “call within a call,” says 47-year-old Mackenzie-Fort Smith Bishop Murray Chatlain. Chatlain, who took charge of the diocese two years ago, was in Toronto April 21 to speak about its needs at the annual Tastes of Heaven gala dinner hosted by Catholic Missions In Canada. Chatlain said the approach of the Church in the north has significantly changed. The Church promotes the use of aboriginal culture and language rather than trying to eradicate it like some priests and religious had done in the past. This requires clergy and lay missionaries to understand what they’re getting into.

School gives 'life-changing' lessons on St. Maximilian Kolbe

April 29, 2010

Franciscan Father Lucjan Krolikowski [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/frlucjan.jpg]The story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest martyred in a Nazi death camp, is being stamped on the memories of more than 100 students and their teachers from the school named after him through hands-on visits to Poland, New York City and contact with Holocaust survivors. St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Secondary School in Aurora, Ont., opened its doors to students in September, and celebrated its official grand opening with special guests and a solemn blessing by Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Nguyen April 28.

KAIROS reapplies for CIDA funding

April 29, 2010

Mary Corkery [images/stories/canada/canada10/corkerymary.jpg]With a $100,000 lifeline from the United Church of Canada, Canada’s ecumenical justice coalition KAIROS has until fall to either restart its international programs with new federal funding or reshape itself as a smaller, more domestically focussed organization. KAIROS has reapplied to the Canadian International Development Agency to restore some of the funding that was cut off Nov. 30. At the time CIDA officials claimed KAIROS’ regular five-year funding agreement was rejected because the church-based group’s international program no longer fit CIDA priorities. However, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told a conference in Jerusalem his government had cut KAIROS funding because it supported anti-Semitism.