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November 4, 2010
street patrol [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/street-patrol.jpg]OTTAWA - The small chaplaincy office at Carleton University is filled with the smell of salami, ham, chicken, cheese and freshly baked bread. The university is quiet on a Saturday morning except for a lively group of Catholic students making sandwiches. When they’re finished, they pack juice boxes, granola bars and bags of socks and set out for Street Patrol. Held on Oct. 23, Street Patrol is a ministry derived from St. Patrick’s Church in Toronto and was brought to Carleton by a former student named Michael Manulak. It involves a group of four to five people reaching out to homeless on the street, speaking with them and offering food, snacks and drinks.
CCSA logo [images/stories/logos/logos10/ccsa.jpg]ROTHESAY, N.B. - They danced, sang, prayed and worshipped. But most importantly, they connected. Students and campus ministers from nearly 20 Canadian universities gathered Oct. 29-31 at the Villa Madonna Retreat House in Rothesay for the 2010 Canadian Catholic Student Association (CCSA) national conference. But why travel across the country for conferences like this? According to students, it’s all about making connections and being a part of a national body of Catholic students.
November 5, 2010
If there is one thing more perplexing and seemingly endlessly fascinating than speculation about what might happen when people go to the polls, it’s the speculation that follows immediately after the election about what it all meant. The U.S. Election on Tuesday unfolded pretty much as expected. The Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives but managed to squeak by in keeping control of the Senate. Explanations for this are all over the map. The putative Catholic Vote is being examined deeply and what exactly happened is still up for debate, and maybe for years to come. Joe Carter at First Things offers a bit of a warning about the role of The Tea Party both in the election and in the coming legislative sessions and it’s worthwhile thinking about what such a disparate group might do to the political agenda. Steve Schneck, of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has an intriguing take on why Catholics actually lost in the election and how dividing America into extremes on the left and right is not good for life issues and not good for questions of social justice. While Daniel Burke in the National Catholic Reporter wonders if the Democrats have just given up on trying to appeal to the religious of any stripe and what that will mean for a whole host of issues, from the environment to immigration to the range of life issues. Kevin Jones at the Catholic News Agency provides a good survey of Pro-Life leaders in the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, all of who are trying to sort out where any movement on any of the issues that top the Catholic Agenda might come from. On the other hand the AFP is reporting that among pro-choice groups in America there is a real sense that a new and strong assault on Abortion is coming. Commonweal offers its own take on the election with the clear reminder that whatever happened on Tuesday is actually just a dress rehearsal for 2012. Benedict XVI is off to Spain and all the early accounts indicate that he may actually score a PR victory similar to the one that came with his State Visit to Britain in September. Austen Ivereigh has a truly intriguing piece in America magazine laying out the politics behind this second visit to Spain in a single year, with a third already on the books for next year. What is most interesting is the speculation that Spain, despite the inevitable protests, wants the Pope to visit and that the Pope wants to use Spain as another forum for his efforts to re-evangelize Europe and attack extreme secularism. David Eade’s essay in the Catholic Herald is an equally sharp analysis of why Spain is so important to the Pope and why Spain is a case study of a nominally Catholic Country wrestling with Secularism in ways that will be very familiar to readers of the Register. On Sunday the Pope will engage in the truly spectacular when he travels to Barcelona and consecrates La Sagrada Familia, one of the world’s most amazing Churches with an incredible history. The dreamer behind the magnificent but still unfinished church, Antoni Gaudi is being touted for Sainthood and supporters see Benedict’s visit on Sunday as an important step in this process. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing La Sagrada Familia check out this piece from the Globe and Mail or this array of pictures on the web.
CFSTO logo [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/women_help.jpg]TORONTO - With a Nov. 3 Mass at St. Paul’s Basilica, Catholic Family Services of Toronto launched a program to heal the wounds of abusive marriages with equal doses of friendship and hope. The raw material will be supplied by women who have themselves survived abusive husbands. Women Helping Women will start off modestly with seven survivors learning how to become mentors to women still trying to find their feet in the aftermath of their ordeals. The volunteer mentors won’t take the place of trained counsellors, psychologists or therapists. Their training through the month of December will teach them how to sip coffee and listen, how to be available to women who have been isolated and frightened for too long.
November 7, 2010
Euthanasia [images/stories/misc/euthanasia.jpg]OTTAWA - A new opinion poll shows that Canadians have a deep ambivalence when it comes to legalizing euthanasia. According to an Environics poll, while a clear majority of Canadians support euthanasia, an even larger number fear what might happen to vulnerable elderly people if it is legalized. The poll, commissioned by LifeCanada, shows 59 per cent of Canadians support legal euthanasia but 63 per cent worry legalizing it would pressure elderly Canadians to accept it to reduce health care costs.
November 8, 2010
Iraqi christians Toronto [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/iraqi_christians.jpg]TORONTO - About 2,000 Middle Eastern Christians hit the streets in Toronto Nov. 6 for a peaceful demonstration against attacks on Christians in Iraq. The march was spurred by the Oct. 31 attacks at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, where 58 people were killed by Muslim militants. This was followed by threats of more attacks on Christians by the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al-Qaeda front group. The group claimed Christians now face "the doors of destruction" in a statement published on militant web sites.
November 10, 2010
5 Bishops [images/stories/international/international10/5bishops.jpg]VATICAN CITY - Five Anglican bishops have decided to join the Catholic Church and step down from their current positions with the Church of England, a Vatican spokesman said. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed to reporters a statement issued Nov. 8 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales welcoming the five bishops. Lombardi said a “constitution” that would govern the entry of former bishops of the Anglican Communion was being studied.
Rod Bruinooge [images/stories/canada/canada10/bruinooge.jpg]OTTAWA - A bill that would make it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion faces a rough ride in the House of Commons. During its first hour of debate Nov. 1, Rod Bruinooge’s private members’ Bill C-510 faced challenges from women MPs from the Bloc, Liberals and NDP who argued the bill would interfere with a woman’s “right to choose” abortion. But Bruinooge, who chairs the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus, argued his bill protects women from being threatened and coerced into ending pregnancies they choose to keep.
Perhaps it is that time of year but there is much buzz about exorcisms both within Church circles and outside. Radio Switzerland is reporting a spike in reports of possession and exorcisms. There is a recent report from Quebec about successful exorcisms. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has scheduled a two-day workshop for later this month on exorcisms and doctrine as well as procedures and resources. 60 Bishops and 66 priests are reported to be registered for the workshop. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield Illinois organized the event and told the Catholic News Service that the 5 or 6 current exorcists in the United States are overwhelmed by requests and the Church needs more qualified exorcists. Not everyone in the U.S. is pleased by this news, most especially Father Richard McBrien of Notre Dame who finds discussions about exorcisms embarrassing and a distraction. The problem isn’t confined to the U.S. A report last year suggests that Italy is facing its own crisis. Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s chief exorcist suggested in an interview with The Times of London earlier this year that one sign of the devil’s presence and his work was the ‘sex abuse scandal’. Father Amorth’s memoirs were published in English this year, Memoirs of an Exorcist, and he isn’t shy about sharing the results of his 25 years in the job and the 70,000 cases of demonic possession he has had to deal with. Richard Owen of the Times in a follow up to his piece has an intriguing interview with the prelate. While Exorcisms are a real issue for the Church, they are also fodder for a lot of pop culture and that’s going to escalate come January of 2011. That’s when The Rite will be released into theatres across North America. It stars Anthony Hopkins and delves into the work of the real life exorcist, Father Gary Thomas of San Jose California. The story of how Father Thomas came to be an exorcist was the subject of the best selling book: “The Rite: The making of a modern exorcist” by Matt Baglio. Thomas, a priest for 27 years, has been an exorcist for 4. Thomas told The American Catholic that he is hoping for big things from the Bishop’s workshop on the 12th and 13th of November but acknowledges that the movie maybe less faithful to the story of his work as an exorcist but he had little control over that.
November 11, 2010
Rt Rev'd Andrew Burnham SSC [images/stories/international/international10/andrew_burnham.jpg]With the stroke of a pen, the Catholic Church gained five new shepherds on Nov. 8 when a quintet of Anglican bishops resigned from their troubled Church to be welcomed by the Vatican. We often see athletes change teams, musicians change record labels, tycoons change banks, but bishops don’t change churches. Not usually. So what should we make of this bold decision?
At the heart of every culture is its cult. Cult includes what is worshipped, what is placed at the centre of communal life, what is deemed worthy of the greatest exertions of talent and treasure. That cult is concretely expressed in buildings — what is built and how. A culture which puts up churches cheek by jowl, small country chapels and magnificent urban cathedrals, expresses itself in one way. A culture which builds enormous shopping malls, sports facilities and entertainment complexes expresses itself in another.
In his Oct. 24 Catholic Register column, Michael Coren reports that he has been deluged by e-mails from “people complaining about how some journalists use their Catholicism as a rather self-indulgent vehicle for their own secular politics.” While not singled out by name in the column, I am clearly among the rascals whose writings Coren’s correspondents (and Coren) dislike. I am replying to this criticism here, because I believe that Coren’s column raises interesting questions about the nature and scope of Catholic journalism, and indeed the Catholic practice of everyday life, that deserve to be answered.
Christ the King (Year C) Nov. 21 (2 Samuel 5:1-3; Psalm 122; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43) Sometimes wanting is better than having. The people of Israel had been governed by covenant and divine law since their liberation from Egypt. They had no real need for a central government or strong ruler. Councils, elders and a loose confederation of the 12 tribes were sufficient. In times of distress or attack, God designated and anointed a judge or military leader but this role was not hereditary — it expired with the death of the leader or the passing of the crisis. In a sense they saw themselves as ruled by God.
OCSTA [images/stories/logos/OCSTA.jpg]TORONTO - Critics are predicting a provincial bill on student achievement and school board governance will change the face of Ontario’s school boards when newly elected trustees take office in December. Rather than leave it to school boards to always act in the best interest of students, as has been the case historically, Bill 177 legislates boards to “promote student achievement and well-being” and “ensure the effectiveness of the board’s resources.” Trustees are also legally bound to “entrust the day-to-day management of the board to its staff through the board’s director of education.”
Military Christian Fellowship of Canada [images/stories/canada/canada10/hillierwithtwohey.jpg]As Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan ends next year, the need to support returning soldiers and the work of chaplains will increase, says the new director of the Military Christian Fellowship of Canada. Soldiers will be facing spiritual issues related to “whatever has happened in Afghanistan” once they return to Canada, said Jane Twohey, who took the helm of the fellowship on Oct. 29.
St. Stanislaus Kostka [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/st_stan.jpg]TORONTO - This month marks the start of a year-long celebration in honour of the jubilee year for St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, the oldest Polish parish in Toronto. “This year is a big milestone for the Polish community,” said Mary Samulewski, chair of the jubilee committee at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, located in the core of the city near Spadina Avenue and Queen Street West. “The parish is the oldest Polish ethnic parish in the GTA and the fourth oldest in Canada.”
Haiti girls food [images/stories/international/international10/handwashing.jpg]PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - As the official cholera toll reached 724 dead with 10,000 people treated in hospitals for the deadly bacteria as of Nov. 11, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has given Caritas Haiti $123,000 to finance distribution of 3,000 more emergency hygiene kits. Caritas Haiti had exhausted its emergency stores of 76,000 hygiene kits, including aquatabs to purify water. The new hygiene kits will be distributed in 20 tent-city camps around Port-au-Pince, Haiti’s capital, where parish volunteers in the camps will be trained by medical professionals in cholera prevention. There are more than one million Haitians still living in tents 10 months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed 230,000.
Three recent incidents provide insight — and perhaps a warning as well — about how Canadians interpret the right to freedom of speech, especially when it comes to unpopular topics. Like any legal and constitutional principle, some interpretation is involved. The old saw about not yelling “fire!” in a crowded theatre applies here because constitutional principles must be balanced against factors such as public safety and the impact on others, among other things.
November 12, 2010
TORONTO - In his journey toward the priesthood, Deacon Eric Mah, a lawyer by training, has had to explain to some of his colleagues why becoming a priest is a “rational” decision in a world where making more money and climbing the corporate ladder are prized pursuits. “You know in your heart that you’re deeply in love with Christ. But to non-Catholics, they see that you’re giving up your life,” the 33-year-old former insurance lawyer told The Catholic Register at a coffee shop near St. Michael’s Cathedral Nov. 5 where he picked up his vestments for his ordination to the diaconate scheduled for the next day.
Fatima kids [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/fatimakids.jpg]TORONTO - Mitchelle D’Souza has always loved to draw. In fact, she recalls being only five or six years old and getting in trouble for drawing in class instead of paying attention. Now 27, the York University information technology graduate is putting her artistic talents to use. Last August, D’Souza launched an online graphic novel, entitled The Fatima Story. The comic is an adaptation of the story of the three children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, who witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, during the First World War.