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November 2010

November 1

Archbishop Thomas Collins praises holiness of St. Brother André

November 1, 2010

Below is the compete text of the address given Oct. 28 by Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins at the annual Cardinal's Dinner in Toronto. On behalf of Cardinal Ambrozic, I am happy to welcome you to the 31st annual Cardinal’s Dinner. Let us all keep Cardinal Ambrozic in our thoughts and prayers, asking God’s blessing upon him in his years of retirement. This dinner is an occasion for all of us from within the Archdiocese of Toronto, and from the wider community, to come together in fellowship, and to help raise money to support many worthy charitable organizations. Over the years, more than $5.5 million dollars has been raised to help those in need. I thank Mr Daniel Sullivan for chairing this year’s Cardinal’s Dinner.

Pope condemns savage attack on Baghdad cathedral

November 1, 2010

Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad [images/stories/international/international10/baghdad.jpg]VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A deadly militant siege of a Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, was a "savage" act of "absurd violence," Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope urged international and national authorities and all people of good will to work together to end the "heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East." "In a very grave attack on the Syrian Catholic cathedral of Baghdad, dozens of people were killed and injured, among them two priests and a group of faithful gathered for Sunday Mass," the pope said of the Oct. 31 incident.

Catholic Voting…Decision U.S.A.

November 1, 2010

Tuesday is the big day and while most observers are obsessed with how bad the Democrat debacle might be or which of the most extreme of Tea Party candidates might actually be sent to Congress, for many Catholics and many political junkies the real question is where will the Catholic Vote go in 2010. A new poll in the New York Times has many in the Catholic Web World abuzz simply because it suggests that the Catholic Vote is breaking Republican big time this time out. That’s a significant shift from just two years ago. What’s not clear is what that means if anything with some speculating that Catholics are as troubled by bad economics as everyone else. But even if no one can know for sure what will happen to the Catholic vote, the politicking for the Catholic vote is continuing right up to the last minute, especially among Catholics. Life issue Catholics are making much of the push by some Bishops to make abortion and life issues The Issue. Others tout the USCCB and its broader list of issues to be taken into account. And some are disputing the role of Bishops in the election all together. One of the more interesting takes on the “Catholic Vote” which has been garnering a great deal of attention is that of Joseph Bottum, Editor of First Things, who in a recent essay in the Weekly Standard argues that there is no “Catholic Vote” but Catholic values have come to be the defining values in U.S. politics. Interestingly, Bottum made the first part of his argument, that there is no Catholic Vote back in 2004. Your choices as to where to follow the election results are nearly inexhaustible but the more intriguing analysis will flow more slowly. One thing ironically is that regardless of how the vote flows, the result in the House of Representatives will be a continuing Catholic leadership: both Nancy Pelosi, the current Speaker of the House and the most possible or likely successor, John Boehner are Catholic.

November 3

Stop the slaughter in Iraq

November 3, 2010

Baghdad coffins [images/stories/international/international10/baghdadcoffins.jpg]It’s long past time the world opened its eyes to the horrors being inflicted on Middle East Christians and, in particular, the forgotten faithful of Iraq. It’s time to sit up and take action to end their suffering. The slaughter in Baghdad last week of more than 50 Sunday worshippers, including priests, women and children, inside Our Lady of Salvation Church was just the latest outrage in a litany of kidnappings, murders and bombings that began shortly after Saddam Hussein was deposed by the 2003 American invasion of Iraq. Hundreds, if not thousand, of Christians have died.

On 'cafeteria Catholicism'

November 3, 2010

In mid-October I was part of a panel at a Toronto university discussing how the world views the Church. It was all pretty good stuff with some faithful and successful Catholic writers on the platform. The academic present, however, was not known to me. But her views were. Not that I had ever heard of the woman before; what I mean is that her opinions on Catholicism were entirely typical of an attitude that has caused colossal damage to the Church in recent years. While discussing abortion, for example, she said that there were “gradations” within Catholicism and implied that supporting the rights of the unborn or promoting their slaughter were various and valid Roman Catholic positions.

Enough already! Let’s call a jihadist a jihadist

November 3, 2010

May we now speak of the Muslims who want to kill us? Isn’t that way out of line? Surely Islam is a religion of peace, from which we have a lot to learn? Let’s then dispense with the disclaimers: Christians and Muslims have often lived together in peace. Only a minority of Muslims are homicidal fanatics. Terrorism is a corruption of Islam. Fine.

A house to live in and a church to pray in

November 3, 2010

Recently a hopeful salesman telephoned. “How old is your kitchen?” he enquired. “Three hundred, twenty-four years,” I breezily replied. “Er… I’m sorry?” “Three hundred, twenty-four years,” I repeated. “It’s owned by the National Trust.”

God comes to me

November 3, 2010

How do we cope with the pain of betrayal, especially when it comes from within, from family? Consider Jess, whose mother Kristen gave birth to her as a teenager. Kristen wanted an abortion but couldn’t get one; she’d slipped into a drug addiction that would last 20 years. She kept the child and raised her, with some help from her family and occasional help from the various men in her life, mostly fellow addicts. By the time she was 12, Jess had learned much about, shall we say, adult entertainment. She’s spent much of the rest of her life trying to distance herself from her upbringing, discover a healthy sexuality and find how to be in real relationships. Her anger against her mother is unabated; for her, betrayal and hurt came not from outside, but from within, from the one who should offer protection and comfort, support and nourishment. One of her biggest challenges is to learn to trust. By now, Jess knows how to cope, but she also needs to be healed.

Guidance and grace help us respond to life's challenges

November 3, 2010

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Nov. 14 (Malachi 4:1-2; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19) The thought of the “arrogant and the evildoers” getting their comeuppance is a very appealing one. Most movies and books cater to this very human desire and when a film ends in ambiguity or even with evil triumphant we feel a sense of distress and unease. We want an orderly and tidy moral universe.

Pope pleads for end to savagery in Iraq

November 3, 2010

Baghdad coffins [images/stories/international/international10/baghdadcoffin2.jpg]VATICAN CITY - A terrorist attack on a Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, that left at least 58 dead and 80 wounded was a “savage” act of “absurd violence,” Pope Benedict XVI said. The Pope urged international and national authorities to work together to end the “heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East.” Muslim militants, dressed in khaki pants and armed with AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide vests, stormed Our Lady of Salvation Church Oct. 31 while more than 100 faithful were celebrating evening Sunday Mass. The Washington Post reported that Fr. Wassem Sabeeh was among the first people executed. Another priest, Fr. Thaer Abdullah, was also killed.

November 4

Security levels for Iraqi Christians must be raised

November 4, 2010

Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan [images/stories/international/international10/younan.jpg]The Syrian Catholic Patriarch has criticized the failure of Iraqi security forces to protect Christian churches and beseeched world governments to come to the aid of the innocent Christians who are being “brutally singled out because of their religion.” Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan was in Canada when terrorists murdered at least 58 Sunday worshippers Oct. 31 at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation Church. In an e-mail to Catholic News Service, he criticized the lax security for Christian places of worship and called on “Iraqi parties to overcome their personal and confessional interests and look for the good of the Iraqi people who have elected them.”

Montreal honours St. Brother André

November 4, 2010

Andre heart [images/stories/canada/canada10/heartentersstadium.jpg]MONTREAL - Montreal’s Olympic Stadium came alive on Oct. 30 with nearly 50,000 scarf-waving pilgrims from across Canada and the United States attending a special Mass in celebration of Canada’s newest saint. “Brother André was convinced that God could use him to accomplish wonderful things,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, archbishop of Montreal, in a homily mostly delivered in French. “For many decades, people came to him as a worker of wonders. It never went to his head.”

Bessette clan united by saint in the family

November 4, 2010

descendants at mass [images/stories/canada/canada10/descendantsatmass2.jpg]MONTREAL - It was a huge reunion for St. Brother André’s family as more than 400 relatives came from near and far to attend a Mass and special gathering at St. Joseph’s Oratory on Oct. 31 to mark the rise to sainthood of their humble brethren. It was another influx of people to an already busy shrine, which had received an estimated 9,000 pilgrims the previous day, as pilgrims were in town for an Oct. 30 celebratory Mass at Olympic Stadium in honour of St. Brother André being elevated to sainthood Oct. 17.

Brother André school name changes on hold

November 4, 2010

Brother André Catholic High School [images/stories/education/education10/andreschool.jpg]There are no set plans to incorporate Brother André’s sainthood at schools named in his honour at the present time, though one school board has already vowed to name its next school after Canada’s newest saint. “It’s the community’s prerogative,” said Jim Nicoletti, principal at Brother André Catholic High School in Markham, Ont. “The superintendent was waiting for direction from the trustees to come out and meet with our parent council to get the ball rolling,” said Nicoletti, adding that because it’s an election year, “it’s not happening too quickly.”

Bishop Monroe making strides in his recovery

November 4, 2010

Kamloops Bishop David Monroe [images/stories/canada_bishops/monroe2.jpg]KAMLOOPS, B.C. - Kamloops Bishop David Monroe is making a speedy recovery from a vicious assault when he was attacked Oct. 22 in the rectory of Sacred Heart Cathedral. The bishop suffered severe head and body injuries after he opened the door to the rectory to the man who attacked him. The bishops’ sisters have been in Kamloops since hearing of the attack the next day.

A Toronto Christian response to torture

November 4, 2010

Simon Appolloni and Stephen Scharper [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/simon-and-stephen-2.jpg]TORONTO - Nobody is in favour of torture, unjust imprisonment, secret trials, pre-emptive war or judicial murder. However, despite our best intentions, we live in a world of death penalties, wars and occupations. For Stephen Scharper and Simon Appolloni, a University of Toronto religious studies professor and the PhD student he supervises, knowing we are not innocent requires a Christian response, one of discernment, reflection and prayer. That’s why they’ve launched an English Canadian chapter of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT).

Film remembers beloved son, soldier Marc Diab

November 4, 2010

Trooper Marc Diab [images/stories/arts/arts10/diab.jpg]TORONTO - He was a beloved son, youth leader and Canadian soldier who wore his faith and patriotism proudly as he served in Afghanistan. So much so that a rosary was found inside the helmet he wore that was recovered after the roadside blast that took his life last year. On Remembrance Day, the story of Trooper Marc Diab will serve as an “active remembrance” of the sacrifice of all Canadian soldiers, says the director of a new documentary about Diab and the impact of his death upon his family.

From the campaign trail to the Camino for Rocco Rossi

November 4, 2010

rocco rossi pilgrimage [images/stories/faith/faith10/rocco-rossi-pilgrimage.jpg]TORONTO - Over the past year, Rocco Rossi has ventured across Toronto trying to win over voters during his mayoral campaign. But now he’s going on a journey of a different kind: the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage in Spain. “It was a very intense year that I’ve just gone through,” Rossi told The Catholic Register. Rossi had been hard on the campaign trail over that time, but finally pulled out of the municipal election, won by Rob Ford, two weeks shy of election day due to low numbers in the polls.

Christian-Jewish Dialogue to honour Rabbi Erwin Schild

November 4, 2010

Rabbi Erwin Schild and Mrs. Laura Schild [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/rabbischild.jpg]TORONTO - From his beginnings as a teen prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp to becoming pastor and leader of 1,800 Jewish families at Toronto’s Adath Israel Synagogue, Rabbi Erwin Schild has led one of the most remarkable lives in Toronto. On Nov. 24, keynote speaker Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa and the many friends of Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Toronto will honour Schild and his wife Laura with a charity dinner.

God, not money, is the purpose of life

November 4, 2010

If I only had an hour left to live, would I say my life was good? What would I call the purpose of living and what would I be bringing with me from this life? I certainly hope I wouldn’t say that most of my life was spent stressing over school work and trying to live up to other people’s expectations. But I believe that is what many young Catholics would say.