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October 2010

October 28

We'll be watching the new school boards

October 28, 2010

school boards [images/stories/schoolB_logos/miscSchoolBd.jpg]Toronto voters mostly ticked the box called status quo when selecting Catholic school trustees in the recent municipal elections. That’s their right, of course. But we hope for the sake of Catholic education that returning trustees don’t interpret this spirit of forgiveness (or is it apathy?) as a signal to resume business as usual. Six of the eight Toronto trustees who stood for re-election were returned to office. The list included a former board chair, Angela Kennedy, who had been bounced from office last summer after being found guilty of conflict of interest.

The Church's 'Israel problem'

October 28, 2010

Do Catholics have an Israel problem? The recent Middle East synod of bishops ended last weekend with a bitter exchange with Israeli authorities, who accused the synod of singling out Israel for critical treatment, and of making a serious theological error regarding the covenant with the Jews. Respected Vatican journalist John Allen wrote that acrimony was expected between the region’s Arab bishops and Israel, but that it took so long to surface was the surprise. Arab hostility to Israel is intense and commonplace — it is routine to hear Israel blamed exclusively for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also for all manner of problems that stretch anywhere from Algeria to Afghanistan. Catholics in the region, almost entirely Arab, are not immune from this anti-Israeli hostility. Indeed, because Catholics are a tiny minority in an otherwise Islamic Arab world, they are often tempted to demonstrate their Arab bona fides by vocally demonstrating that they are not friends of Israel. A synod of bishops held in the Middle East itself would have had a constant anti-Israeli refrain. But held in Rome, the Vatican, which prizes good relations with Jews, restrained for the most part the anti-Israeli rhetoric.

Tony Judt: A righteous man in an unrighteous age

October 28, 2010

The recent death of historian and essayist Tony Judt at age 62 has shut down a remarkable wellspring of straight talk about the modern world and its woes, and left-thinking people everywhere bereft of one of our time’s finest political and moral voices. His books helped make Judt famous. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (2005), for example, is a majestic best-selling survey that has, in the words of a reviewer, “the pace of a thriller and the scope of an encyclopedia.’’ But it was the essays from the decades on either side of 2000, gathered into the outstanding book Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century (2008), that earned Judt an international reputation as a fearlessly sceptical critic of modern political pieties. His best-known texts today, after the great Postwar, are surely his contributions on politics and current affairs to such journals as The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement and The London Review of Books, and especially The New York Review of Books.

God will stand by those firm in faith

October 28, 2010

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Nov. 7 (2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 7, 9-14; Psalm 17; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5; Luke 20:27-38) How much are we willing to suffer for our faith and our cherished beliefs? Brave talk is easy but it is not until faced with some fearsome choices that we discover what is inside of us. The Book of Maccabees was written during the second century BC at the time of the Jewish revolt against the oppression of the Antiochus Epiphanes, who was one of the Greek successors to Alexander the Great. This tyrant attempted to wipe out Jewish culture and religion replacing it with Greek culture. Jewish religious practices were forbidden and refusal to comply was punished by death.

Teachers must find that moment of grace

October 28, 2010

Bishop Paul Andre-Durocher [images/stories/canada_bishops/durochernew.jpg]MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - As a teacher, Bishop Paul Andre-Durocher once taught a Grade 10 student who had a hard time mastering the baritone. After many unsuccessful attempts, the student finally got it, to her delight and the joy of her teacher. The Cornwall-Alexandria bishop used this as an example of grace in the classroom as he spoke to 1,200 teachers at the 14th annual “When Faith Meets Pedagogy” conference sponsored by the Catholic Curriculum Corporation.

Catholic school boards need anti-homophobia policies

October 28, 2010

Kevin Welbes Godin [images/stories/education/education10/welbesgodin.jpg]MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - A “courageous conversation” needs to happen at Ontario’s Catholic schools to combat homophobia as boards implement the provincial government’s new equity policy, says a prominent educator. Kevin Welbes Godin told a symposium that “silence is no longer acceptable” when it comes to the absence of anti-homophobia policies in some Ontario Catholic boards. But other comments during the workshop upset some teachers who said Welbes Godin and co-presenter David Szollosy were misinterpreting the position of the Ontario bishops and that their views on gay support groups were not in keeping with Church teaching.

Fr. Matthews' extended stay comes to an end

October 28, 2010

Father Carl Matthews [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/mathews.jpg]Jesuit Father Carl Matthews disbelieves his own birth certificate. In February he will be 80. “So I’m way past my due date, I think,” Matthews told The Catholic Register. “I can’t get over looking at a birth certificate that I am the age that I am.” Parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in Waubaushene, on Georgian Bay in the northern reaches of the archdiocese of Toronto, said a fond farewell to their energetic pastor of the past 16 years on Oct. 23. Matthews will take up duties as chaplain for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. He will be replaced in Waubaushene by Jesuit Father Stephen LeBlanc. The former chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, former editor and publisher of The Catholic Register, former teacher and former campaigner for full funding of Catholic high schools never expected to spend much time as a parish pastor.

Canadian Bishops push Prime Minister for national anti-poverty strategy

October 28, 2010

In an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada’s bishops are calling for the the federal government to develop a national anti-poverty strategy. CCCB [images/stories/logos/logos10/CCCB_logo.jpg]“We invite Canadians today to join us in calling on our federal government to emulate the efforts of many provincial governments and develop a national anti-poverty strategy,” said the Oct. 15 letter from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Today, most new wealth is going to those who already have more than enough. Inequality is increasing in Canada. The growing rich-poor gap is threatening the economic and political power of our middle class and our treasured participatory democracy.”

Canada's Immigration Minister seeks Church aid for Iraqi refugees

October 28, 2010

Iraqi refugees to Canada [images/stories/features/iraqExodus/CanadaIraqiMap.jpg]TORONTO - Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney is holding the gate open for Iraqi refugees another two years, and asking churches again for help. By extending the program aimed at Iraqi refugees, Canada could welcome another 8,000 Iraqi refugees in 2012 and 2013. They would join approximately 12,000 Iraqis who will have come to Canada between 2009 and 2011. Addressing the churches and other faith-based sponsorship agreement holders, Kenney told a Toronto news conference, “I’m asking you to get engaged. Do more. Raise more funds. Sponsor more refugees.”

Mideast peace possible, Pope says as synod ends

October 28, 2010

Middle East synod [images/stories/international/international10/mideast_synod.jpg]VATICAN CITY - Closing the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI said, “We must never resign ourselves to the absence of peace.” “Peace is possible. Peace is urgent,” the Pope said Oct. 24 during his homily at the Mass closing the two-week synod. Peace is what will stop Christians from emigrating, he said. Pope Benedict also urged Christians to promote respect for freedom of religion and conscience, “one of the fundamental human rights that each state should always respect.”

Vatican journey leaves a lasting impression

October 28, 2010

There are experiences that leave impressions on us for the rest of our lives. Last summer, while visiting the Vatican with my family, I was lucky enough to have had one of those experiences. Thus far in my life, I have been blessed to do more than my fair share of travelling around the globe. By the age of 15, I had set foot on three different continents, visiting several cities across North America, Europe and Asia. While it’s exciting to marvel at the beauty of God’s creation in every corner of the Earth, I was completely unprepared for the wonder and majesty of the Vatican.

Young singer to debut new pro-life song

October 28, 2010

Carly Taylor [images/stories/Music/carly_taylor.jpg]Milton, Ont. - At the age of 14, Carly Taylor already had her self-titled country music album in stores. At 16, she is now preparing for the release of her second album, Delirious. And on Nov. 5, Taylor will be debuting a new pro-life song at Halton Pro-Life’s 2010 Respect Life Fundraising Banquet in Oakville, Ont. “It’s actually a song that my sister wrote,” said Taylor, a Grade 11 student at Milton, Ont.’s Bishop Reding High School. “I’m very excited to sing it.”

40 hours to deepen relations with the Lord

October 28, 2010

prayer [images/stories/faith/faith10/prayer.jpg]TORONTO - Eighteen year-old Renata Taragos knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and silently prayed the rosary, joining the more than 300 people who usually attend the annual 40-hour devotion at Holy Family Church. Parishioners like Taragos say the devotion helps to deepen their relationship with God. Holy Family Church is one of a few parishes that retains the centuries-old tradition of the special 40-hour period of continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament.

October 29

Schools must be safe havens for all

October 29, 2010

Chris D'Souza [images/stories/education/education10/d_souza-chris.jpg]MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - With hate crimes on the rise in Canada, implementing the province's new inclusive education policy comes at critical time when schools must be “safe havens” for all students, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation, says educator Chris D'Souza. D'Souza spoke at an Oct. 22 workshop at the “When Faith Meets Pedagogy” conference on “Reaffirming our vocation to Catholic education and commitment in the service of students.” D'Souza has been in 27 Ontario cities over the past nine months speaking about the government's new equity and inclusive education policy.

D & P 'disturbed' by defeat of responsible mining bill

October 29, 2010

Development and Peace mining [images/stories/canada/canada10/dp_mining.jpg]OTTAWA - The defeat of a bill calling on Canadian mining companies to higher standards while operating abroad is disappointing to the Canadian bishops' development agency. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace called it "disturbing" that the responsible mining bill was defeated in the House of Commons Oct. 27.

Fr. Lewis aims to connect Scripture with people in the pews

October 29, 2010

Father Scott Lewis [images/stories/books/lewis_scott.jpg]TORONTO - Members of the Holy Rosary parish choir in Burlington, Ont., really need Jesuit Father Scott Lewis’s new book, if only to clear the clutter of old programs piling up at home. Music director Vicky Chen has been reprinting Lewis’s weekly Catholic Register column about the Sunday readings on the back of her weekly music programs for years. A former student in Lewis’s Scripture classes at Regis College, Chen feels the column gives choir members a context for the hymns and songs they sing Sunday mornings.

Friars' essay contest puts focus on Christian unity

October 29, 2010

Friar's writing contest [images/stories/bannerAdSizes/friars-writing-awards.jpg]The Friars' essay contest contest for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is now open. Co-sponsored by the The Catholic Register and the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement-Graymoor in Toronto, the top prize is a 32 GB iPod touch. The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is: “One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of the Bread and Prayer.”