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September 17, 2010
It was astonishing how much I could see from under the maple tree in Zone 1, Section 25 of Bellahouston Park. By standing on its roots, I added inches to my stature and could see, not only the huge screen before me, but away before the altar, songstress Susan Boyle in a black dress. Catholic Scotland cheered to see its favourite daughter. “Her brother does my garden,” said Paul beside me. “She lives just down the road from me,” said the woman in front of us.
Pope Queen and school children [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/Pope10/queen_pope2.jpg]LONDON - In a rousing encounter with some 4,000 schoolchildren, Pope Benedict XVI asked them to make friendship with God the centre of their lives. "We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only He can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts," the Pope said Sept. 17 in Twickenham, a suburb of London.
September 18, 2010
Pope Westminster [images/stories/international/international10/pope_london.jpg]LONDON (CNS) -- In a personal meeting with five victims of clerical sexual abuse, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "deep sorrow and shame" over their suffering and promised the church would do "all in its power" to investigate cases of abuse and safeguard the young. The encounter Sept. 18 in London took place just hours after the German pontiff, speaking at a Mass in Westminster Cathedral, denounced what he called the "unspeakable crimes" committed by some priests against young people.
September 19, 2010
TORONTO - He endured permanent estrangement from most of his relatives after converting to Catholicism and faced suspicions from some of his fellow bishops. But these crosses couldn’t dim the light of faith that guided Cardinal John Henry Newman in living out his ministry as scholar, preacher and teacher. Today, Newman’s light and legacy are embodied in the Newman Centres and clubs on campuses across North America and Australia which bear his name. John Henry Newman [images/stories/historical_people/john_henry_newman.jpg]Newman lived a life of prayer, study and sacrifice and his example of faith was to be celebrated and recognized on Sept. 19 when Pope Benedict XVI was to beatify the 19th-century English cardinal in Birmingham, England. In the hustle and bustle of the University of Toronto’s downtown campus, one of the places students can seek refuge is at the Newman Centre and its chapel just across from the Robarts Library.
September 20, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI walks with British Prime Minister David Cameron [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/Pope10/pope_cameron.jpg]LONDON - In terms of his primary objectives — preaching the Gospel to his flock and defending the influence of religion in society — Pope Benedict XVI can look at his four-day visit to Great Britain as a major success. The big question going into the Sept. 16-19 visit was whether the German Pope would be given a fair hearing in a country where skepticism about religion runs high. The answer was a resounding "yes." Not only did the Pope speak his mind, but he also received unprecedented gavel-to-gavel coverage in the British media.
Toronto Free Presbyterian Church [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/toronto_free_presb.jpg]TORONTO - The Toronto Free Presbyterian Church stands behind its Ulster-based brethren in protesting Pope Benedict XVI's visit to England and Scotland. The tiny Toronto church protested Pope John Paul II's visit in 2002, and would do so again if the Pope were ever to visit Canada, said Toronto Free Presbyterian Church senior pastor Larry Saunders. "My concern, my opposition to the Pope coming as a representative of the Catholic Church is that he comes not just as a religious leader. He comes as also the head of state," said Saunders.
September 21, 2010
Pakistan floods [images/stories/international/international10/pakistanflood2.jpg]TORONTO - With the deadline for federal matching funds extended to Oct. 3, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has raised more than $1 million for flood victims in Pakistan. Toronto parishes have so far turned in an additional $237,061.11 to ShareLife, the archdiocese's charitable fundraising arm. ShareLife funds will eventually be turned over to Development and Peace, the development arm of the Canadian Catholic bishops that is one of a select group of agencies eligible for federal matching funds.
Every event needs a narrative, and this is oh so true of Pope Benedict XVI’s just completed State visit to Great Britain. Prior to the trip, the buzz was about cost, security, protests and anger. During the trip, the buzz was about attendance at Papal masses, outings, ceremonies and the protests outside, inside and about. Now that the trip is done, the buzz centres on what he accomplished, how and whether the entire exercise was worth the effort? Or as Time Magazine put it, “The Pope vs. Britain’s Secularists: Who Won? Notorious British M.P. George Galloway thinks he has it down and declares that the Pope’s critics and much of the coverage were straight out of another time, when even being Catholic was a treasonous offence, “Pope Bashers are Throwback to 1605”. Dominic Lawson, writing in the Independent takes a different tack and places the credit with the Pope instead of the blame with the critics, noting, “I suspect it is precisely the unpolitical nature of Pope Benedict that gives him a certain popular appeal”. Lawson, a leading British journalist concluded his piece by observing “Humility is perhaps the most difficult of all the virtues; the smuggest among the Pope's secular critics could learn from his example.” David Willey in a blog on the BBC site believes that the entire Vatican is heaving a sigh of relief at a trip well executed and euphoria over besting all expectations and even hopes in “Pope’s Visit is deemed to Challenge Stereotypes”. Paddy Agnew in the Irish Times concurs with Willey’s sentiment noting, “there’s no disguising the Holy See’s satisfaction about the trip". Publications as far away as New Zealand couldn’t help but share in the growing international consensus with a report entitled “ Pope Succeeds in UK Charm Offensive”. Even Prime Minister David Cameron heaped praise on the Pontiff and his visit, noting that the Pope had ‘challenged Britain to sit up and think about the role of religion in society”. Anne Applebaum writing in the Washington Post adds an interesting layer of reflection on Cameron’s sentiment in a thoughtful piece “Anger over papal visit shows religious freedom is alive and well in Britain” which actually does a nice job putting much of the coverage into an interesting perspective.
September 22, 2010
vatican [images/stories/international/international10/vatican.jpg]VATICAN CITY - The president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, has been placed under investigation by Italian magistrates in a money-laundering probe, the Italian state television RAI reported. RAI, citing judicial sources, said the move followed the seizure Sept. 20 by Italian treasury police of 23 million euros ($30 million) that had been deposited in a Rome bank account by the Vatican bank.
The Pope is coming. Quick, hide the guidebooks to liberal ecumenism, say that you really do approve of the reform of the reform and pretend that however much it looks otherwise you honestly do want your nice Anglican friends who serve such quality sherry to convert to Roman Catholicism.
It was Friday, Sept. 17, and Pope Benedict XVI was sitting before the high altar of Westminster Abbey, the first Pope ever to do so. Beside him was the Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, he of the fly-away eyebrows, reading an address. “Christians have,” the archbishop read, with an apologetic glance at the pontiff, “very diverse views about the nature of the vocation that belongs to the See of Rome.” Benedict’s own eyebrows flew up, and he looked to the side. He smiled. My sitting-room erupted with laughter.
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Oct. 3 (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalm 95; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10) When is God going to do something about this mess? How could a compassionate and just God permit the things that go on in our world? These are not trendy modern questions — the folks in ancient Israel were asking them too.
Papal tours too often become occasions for anti-Catholic and other anti-religious forces to find a friendly microphone. Before the visit to Britain even began there were indications that a hostile reception might await Pope Benedict. There was even half-serious talk of arresting him for “complicity” in the sex abuse scandal.
Ryerson catholic students [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/chaplaincy_centres.jpg]TORONTO - While university and college students heading back to school often join campus groups and organizations to alleviate the pressures of academic life, there is one area that is often overlooked: campus chaplaincy centres. “A lot of Catholic students may know we’re here but they have a job, they live in Markham, they’re busy with school and may be involved with something else at school — and that’s enough for them,” said Kim Gottfried Piché, director of chaplaincy services at the Ryerson Catholic Chaplaincy Centre.
2008 National Campus Life Network’ [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/ncln_symposium.jpg]TORONTO - From Oct. 1 to 3, pro-life students from across the country will gather for the National Campus Life Network’s annual national symposium at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto. “For a lot of students, it’s a pivotal moment where they come to a new level of commitment when it comes to pro-life work,” said Rebecca Richmond, executive director of the National Campus Life Network, an organization that exists to educate, network and support pro-life students at post-secondary institutions across Canada. “Then they’re inspired and motivated to go back to their campus and share what they learned with members of their club or to get a club started and impact their campus.”
Allow me to take you back to the early Roman Empire in the first few hundred years after the death of Christ. Although fully aware of the persecution that would result if they are caught practising their religion, the early Christians still made the effort to gather on Sundays.
Sr. Donna Markham [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/srdonna_markham.jpg]TORONTO - For many religious women in the United States the Vatican-appointed apostolic visitation on American sisters is an open wound, a sore point and something they would rather not talk about. Sr. Donna Markham is coming to Toronto to talk about it. The Dominican Sister will deliver the annual Dominican Family of Toronto lecture at the University of St. Michael’s College Oct. 15. Markham has titled her talk “Mission, Membership and the Apostolic Visitation” and organizers are promoting it under the banner “Women Religious Under Scrutiny.”
St. John Bosco’ [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/donbosco.jpg]TORONTO - On Oct. 5, St. John Bosco will be closer to Canadians than ever before — his relics will be on display at St. Benedict parish in Toronto. It’s the first stop in Canada for the Don Bosco Among Us Relic Tour through 130 countries that kicked off on Jan. 31, 2009, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The tour will make its way on to Montreal Oct. 6-8 and then to Surrey, B.C., Oct. 8-10, before continuing elsewhere until 2015, the 200th anniversary of his birth in Turin, Italy.
Rosanna Riverso [images/stories/arts/arts10/riverso.jpg]TORONTO - Just hitting that one, pure, crystal-clear note is hard enough. Hitting it all alone, without the help of supporting musicians, takes courage. When Rosanna Riverso strides out in front of her audience at St. Paul’s Basilica Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. she will have the reassurance of piano, bass, guitar and percussion backing her up. But she will be singing on behalf of kids who don’t necessarily have any back-up.
TCDSB Logo [images/stories/schoolB_logos/TCDSBLogo.jpg]TORONTO - The Toronto Catholic District School Board is looking at opening its first Kindergarten to Grade 12 school. Angela Gauthier, the board’s associate director of academic affairs, said the proposed school bringing together students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 would feature “an innovative program to help us implement a 21st-century approach to education” and could be in place within three years.