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May 3, 2010
Catholic school [images/stories/education/education10/schools4.jpg]Some of the most profound moments in my spiritual life — outside of the sacraments and giving birth to my children — have been experienced in an ordinary Catholic elementary school right near my home in Mississauga, where I have run both a Rosary Club and Saints Club. The joys of praying with children, witnessing the prompting of their souls and feeling the abundant grace as they sang with united hearts, often left me speechless. At times it could also be gut wrenching. Prayer petitions about everything from cancer, family break ups, job losses, to the death of a dear pet, tugged at our hearts. But in those moments of prayer, on Friday’s at lunch time, we had each other and our faith.
May 4, 2010
Old St. John's school [images/stories/education/education10/oldstjohns.jpg]TORONTO - Aside from the annual Lenten Masses at St. John's School, alumni Angela Carroll remembers joining her Grade 4 classmates in the hallway as the school set up TVs in the hallway to watch Paul Henderson's 1972 history-making goal against the Soviet team. Carroll is now a teacher at her old school on Kingston Road in Toronto's east end and will be joining alumni in celebrating St. John's centenary milestone May 8. Carroll says the event will be special, not only because she is an alumni, but her husband also attended the school, and their children are now students there.
Mosul Demonstration [images/stories/international/international10/mosuldemo.jpg]VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI condemned fresh violence against Christians in Iraq and called on the nation to work toward peace. In a telegram written on behalf of the Pope, the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the pontiff was "deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of life and injuries" caused by two bomb attacks near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
May 6, 2010
Fr. Brian Clough [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/cloughfrbrian.jpg]TORONTO - From a clinical psychologist who treats and researches sex abusers to a social worker who has spent 22 years protecting children in the child welfare system, the archdiocese of Toronto now has a team ready to thoroughly review its policies in cases of priestly sex abuse. “I’ve asked people to come to the first meeting (during the second week of May) with their suggestions and difficulties and so on,” said archdiocese of Toronto judicial vicar Fr. Brian Clough. “They’re bringing different backgrounds and different viewpoints and we’re going to have to listen.”
May 7, 2010
Ascension of the Lord (Year C) May 16 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53) We should beware when our perception of God’s will meshes too smoothly with our own fears, desires, worldview and opinions. While God has His own purpose and plan, human beings have their own — and it is usually of a very different and far less noble nature.
I’ve heard three theories about where we should celebrate Sunday Mass. The first directs us to the church within the boundaries of the parish where we live. The second counsels us to go where we are nourished. The third says we can go to any Catholic church we like on Sundays, just so long as we actually go. As a Torontonian, I roamed through the city, showing up at this parish and that. I had been active in Catholic circles my entire life, so there were churches all over the city where I found friends to pray beside. St. Patrick’s German was a good bet, as was Our Lady of Lourdes, as was the Newman Centre. I could have gone to my parents’ parish, of course, but the pastor’s habit of speeding through the Mass as if it were an unpleasant domestic chore filled me with rage.
Recently the Ontario government reversed its decision to introduce a new sex-education curriculum in the province’s schools. Whether it will succeed in re-designing the proposals remains to be seen but we can only hope that the whole process will crawl back into the closet, so to speak. Predictably, the snobs and the cynics immediately condemned the government for surrendering to hysterical parents and religious fanatics and claimed that the curriculum itself was moderate and conciliatory. Not true of course, on either count. Governments seldom change policies because of organized opposition, particularly if it comes from parents and faith communities. And in this case the opposition was not organized, had no financial backing and only lasted a few days.
new missal [images/stories/misc/misc10/missal2.jpg]Last week a reader wrote us to apologize because he realized he’d been too harsh last January in criticizing design changes we’d made to The Register. Upon reflection, he concluded, the paper was now easier on the eyes and the changes were a “tremendous improvement.” We mention this not to praise ourselves, but because a new translation of the Roman Missal has been approved by Pope Benedict XVI and, with change in the wind, it is worth remembering there is virtue in being open-minded and even-tempered. As our reader realized, given time, change can be good.
Fatima [images/stories/historical/threeseersoffatima.jpg]It’s 93 years since the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to three peasant children, Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco, at Fatima, Portugal. Mary appeared six times entrusting to the youngsters three “secrets.” The first two, when revealed, urged the necessity of prayer and sacrifice so that Russia and the forces of atheism could be converted. At the last apparition, thousands witnessed the miracle promised to the three children: the sun, resembling a silver disc, could be gazed at without difficulty and, whirling on itself like a wheel of fire, seemed about to fall upon the Earth. Since that time pilgrims, now up to seven million per year, have thronged to Fatima for prayers of petition and seeking miracles. Pope Benedict XVI will be one of them, making his first visit to Fatima May 13.
Devil's Operation [images/stories/arts/arts10/deviloperation.jpg]The tale of a priest, the devil, a mine and the mine’s private army has hit the Toronto Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival just as Canada is debating whether it should give taxpayer money and government services to mining companies with poor human rights and environmental records outside Canada. The Devil Operation, produced and directed by Canadian filmmaker and journalist Stephanie Boyd, adds to a list of recent documentaries that feature a Canadian connection, mining, human rights violations and environmental disaster, including Return to El Salvador, the story of how a protester against a Canadian mine turned up dead, and Under the Rich Earth which explores the use of private paramilitary squads by Canadian mining companies in Ecuador.
St. Bonaventure’s College [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/stboncommunion.jpg]ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. - In a desert of secular schools, St. Bonaventure’s College is an oasis. Started in 1856, one year after the consecration of the neighbouring Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the College has been an integral part of the fabric of St. John’s. In 1998, denominational education was ended in the province, and St. Bonaventure’s (St. Bon’s) was targeted for closure. However, the following year, without any government support, the school reopened as a private college. The 2009-2010 school year marks the 10th anniversary of this rebirth.
Last month, I got the greatest gift I never knew I needed: a break from my worries. As I went on my Grade 12 retreat, the reality set in that it would be my last high school-sponsored retreat before I head off to university. But it also ended up being one of the best. When we arrived at Shadow Lake Outdoor Education Centre in Stouffville, Ont., we were met with a great view of the lake, a great sparkling blue gem surrounded by a thick, lush forest full of evergreen trees. The day consisted of fun activities that helped strengthen our spiritual relationships with Christ. It was relaxing and made me feel at ease, a place where we felt we could push busy thoughts out of mind.
North West Catholic District School Board [images/stories/schoolB_logos/northwestcdsb.jpg]TORONTO - A new project aimed at reducing the gap in reading and writing test scores for aboriginal students is producing impressive results, according to Mary-Catherine Kelly. Kelly, Northwestern Catholic District School Board Director of Education, facilitated a presentation on the Oral Language Project at the 80th annual general meeting of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association from April 29 to May 1 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Oil Spill church [images/stories/international/international10/oilspill.jpg]NEW ORLEANS - Inside St. Bernard Church May 2, parishioners whose lives depend on the fishing industry and who endured and overcame the battering of Hurricane Katrina five years ago had a difficult time focusing on Fr. John Arnone’s homily. Their minds shifted to the video of South Louisiana crude oil spewing from a ruptured British Petroleum pipeline a kilometre and a half deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bob Rae [images/stories/canada/canada10/raebasket.jpg]OTTAWA - An event to promote health care for women and children in developing nations was hijacked by Bob Rae’s abortion views when he insisted on raising the controversial issue that even his own party failed to support in a recent Commons vote. Speaking to a coalition of nine major non-governmental organizations on May 4, Rae first lauded initiatives to provide basic health care for women and children, but then said he must remain consistent by bringing up “reproductive and sexual health” and a “woman’s right to choose.”
G8 [images/stories/canada/canada10/g8_2010.jpg]Catholic physicians fear that Canada will succumb to pressure from G8 leaders to include abortion in its maternal health care plan for the Third World. “I bet that will happen if it gets on the table (at the G8 Summit in June in Huntsville, Ont.)” said Dr. Robert Walley, executive director of MaterCare International. Walley said his greatest concern, if abortion creeps in, is that it will affect the criteria for obtaining funding. He said the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has repeatedly rejected MaterCare’s request for funding solely on the basis of services he does not provide.
Archbishop Terrrence Prendergast, S.J. [images/stories/canada_bishops/prendergast_candle.jpg] VATICAN CITY - Delivering a completed English translation of the much-anticipated new Roman Missal to Pope Benedict XVI left him “filled with awe as well as relief and joy,” said Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. Now Prendergast hopes that, after nine years of work by Vatican officials, English-speaking bishops and experts worldwide, priests will readily embrace a radical change to the Liturgy of the Mass expected to be implemented by Advent 2011.
May 10, 2010
new Roman Missal [images/stories/misc/misc10/missal2.jpg] Larry Yakimoski could just about spit nails when the subject of the new English translation of the Roman Missal comes up. “It really seems to me that there are forces in the Church that are trying to roll back the clock,” said the layman from Saskatoon. “I was a kid when Vatican II came along. It was probably the reason why I stayed in the Church.”
meagans walk [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/meaganswalk.jpg]TORONTO - It’s been nine years since Toronto’s Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School community lost Meagan Bebenek. But the five-year-old junior kindergarten student has left a lasting legacy which was commemorated in the April 27 “Circle of Angels with Hope,” an annual event started after Meagan’s death from brain cancer.
Catholic Times [images/stories/canada/canada10/catholic_times_logo.jpg]Montreal’s only English-language Catholic newspaper will cease monthly publication immediately and may close entirely next year due to funding cuts. Catholic Times Editor Eric Durocher told The Catholic Register it’s been an “extremely difficult year” managing the paper after being hit with a $30,000 cut in funding from Pillars Trust Fund, which provides about half of the newspaper’s operating capital.