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November 18, 2010
Ruth Lobo [images/stories/education/education10/ruth-lobo.jpg]OTTAWA - Carleton University’s pro-life club must become pro-choice if it wants to receive student union funding and recognition on campus. The Carleton Student Union Association (CUSA) revoked the club status of Carleton LifeLine and said it must change a clause in its constitution which violates CUSA's anti-discrimination policy supporting “a woman’s right to choose” in order to be recertified.
November 19, 2010
arrest carelton [images/stories/education/education10/arrestcarelton2.jpg]OTTAWA (CCN)—National pro-life student associations in the United States and Canada have thrown their support behind Carleton Lifeline, a pro-life group facing discrimination on the Carleton University campus in Ottawa. Carleton University’s pro-life club was told earlier this week that it must become pro-choice if it wants to receive student union funding and recognition on campus (read full story). Students for Life of America (SFLA) and National Campus Life Network (NCLN) launched StandWithCarleton.com as a sign of solidarity with the Lifeline, which has been decertified by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA). That means the pro-life club has lost access to funds from compulsory student dues as well as the recognition that allows them to use public spaces on campus for meetings and publicity.
Haiti endures [images/stories/features/feature10/haiti_endure/endures.jpg]The Jan. 12 earthquake was over in minutes, but the disaster will be with the Haitian people for many years. While people find a way to get by, there are more tests of faith, hope and charity to come as time passes. Living in tents, carrying water in buckets, walking past mounds of rubble and garbage Haitians have to find the strength each day to carry on.
November 21, 2010
There is nothing like a sense of the provocative, or a media firestorm, to drive book sales and the publishers of Pope Benedict XVI must be rubbing their hands with glee over the anticipated sales from this Tuesday’s publication of “Light of the World”, a series of conversations between the Pontiff and German Journalist Peter Seewald. As of early Sunday Evening, there were nearly 3000 articles about the book, most by far dealing with comments the Pope made on exceptional circumstances where the use of condoms might be justified. The take on what the pope said, based on excerpts published in L’Osservatore Romano were described as “Pope Drops Historic Church Ban on Condoms” to “In Rare Cases, Pope Justifies Use of Condoms” to “ Condoms Justified to Stop Aids: Pope”. The book, the third that Pope Benedict has done with Seewald, two as Cardinal Ratzinger, actually covers many more issues than condoms: Pius XII and the Holocaust, the possibility of resigning if his health or mind were to deteriorate, the issue of the Clerical Sex Abuse Scandal to mention just three equally provocative topics. You can check out David Gibson or John Allen for relatively neutral assessments of the range. But Condoms trumped, with Aids and Gay groups ‘welcoming’ the Pope’s ‘change of mind’ while others sought to clarify both what the Pope actually said and what it may or may not mean. The National Catholic Register leapt in with sheer surprise in a smart piece entitled “The Pope Said What About Condoms?” Catholic Voices in England, an Opus Dei supported group had people out all day on Sunday putting things in perspective. The Vatican suggested that much ado was being made about little. Damian Thompson of the Telegraph both tried to explain how Benedict’s newly revealed views were just part of the whole man while also musing aloud about why Conservatives might be reacting the way they are. What is clear is that Catholics the world over, and lots of other people, are going to be combing through this book in the weeks and months to come. While the speculation runs amok and the heads are shaking, there's lots to ponder and more analysis to come. Count on it.
November 22, 2010
Light of the world [images/stories/books/1586176064.jpg]ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's book-length interview is certain to spark global attention, and not only for his comments suggesting that condom use might be acceptable in some circumstances. In the 219-page book, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," the German pontiff spoke candidly on the clerical sex abuse scandal, relations with Islam, papal resignation and the "threatening catastrophe" facing humanity.
November 24, 2010
cambodia stampede [images/stories/international/international10/cambodia.jpg]PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Catholic Church in Cambodia planned a special Mass for victims of a bridge stampede during the Water Festival on Diamond Island in Phnom Penh, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The chaos Nov. 22 that killed more than 375 people and injured at least 755 was seen as the biggest tragedy for Cambodians since the Pol Pot regime, said Prime Minister Hun Sen. The government announced it will give five million riel ($1,230) to each family of the dead for transporting the bodies. It also scheduled Nov. 25 as a national day of mourning.
korea [images/stories/international/international10/korea.jpg]INCHEON, South Korea - A South Korean chancellor whose diocese was affected by the recent North Korean military provocation criticized the aggression and expressed concern for local residents. "The relationship between the North and the South worsened under the current South Korean government," Fr. John Kim Yong-hwan, chancellor of Incheon, which covers Yeonpyeong Island, told the Asian church news agency UCA News. "The South Korean government should introduce dialogue and embrace the North."
Pope Benedict XVI [images/stories/PopeBenedictXVI/Pope09/popeEaster09.jpg]As the marketing agencies might put it, this is the Pope like we’ve never seen him before. The release last week of the book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Spirit of the Times reveals a relaxed, flexible, sensitive, sometimes insecure pontiff not afraid to admit mistakes or contemplate his frailty. If Pope Benedict XVI’s previous academic writings demonstrate his intellectual prowess, Light of the World reveals his human side.
Recently I was speaking as part of a panel at a conference about how the media covers religion, and specifically the Catholic Church. It was sponsored by the archdiocese of Toronto so the audience was made up of mainly Roman Catholic university students. During the question-and-answer period, three students mentioned how poorly equipped they felt to defend their faith in the public square, though they did not express it quite that way.
At the recent consistory of cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to his red-robed brethren about the “logic of the Cross” which should animate their leadership in the Church. A consistory of cardinals emphasizes the unity of the Church around Peter and the universality of the Church spread throughout the world; it also highlights some truly heroic pastors. Yet, just as weeds grow up amidst the wheat, there is also an off-putting dimension. It prompts some of the princes of the Church to act more like princes than churchmen. It is, for some, a moment of clerical ambition confirmed. The occasion can take on the aspect of being admitted to an elite club rather than undertaking anew the apostolic mission of preaching the Gospel. At its worst, the cardinalatial nomination crowns a career of bureaucratic longevity rather than evangelical service.
Political Islam in the Middle East and western Asia comes in numerous colours. On the peaceful, moderate end of the spectrum are groups such as Turkey’s parliamentary Justice and Development Party. The more culturally radical Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt, but its anti-Western message still manages to garner great popularity at the grass-roots. Farthest out of the moderate Islamist mainstream are such movements as Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda throughout the Arab world, which advocate the violent overthrow of Muslim-led moderate governments and terrorist acts against them.
St. Francis Table [images/stories/toronto/toronto10/stfrancistable.jpg]TORONTO - At the sound of the doorbell, Br. John Frampton swings open the door at St. Francis Table restaurant to welcome more diners. “Hi, Brother John,” says a man, obviously a regular. He takes a seat and is served a meal by volunteers in aprons. Frampton, in his robes, bustles from table to table speaking with patrons enjoying a meal of soup, meatloaf, peas and fries.
Second Sunday of Advent (Year A) Dec. 5 (Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12) How can our messy world be cleaned up and set right? Some form of this question is uppermost in the minds of many people. We long for a world of justice, peace, harmony and compassion but it seems to elude us — many of our efforts not only fail but seem to make matters worse. That pesky and destructive thing called human nature is often the culprit. But there are no quick fixes and no divine figure is going to wave a wand and make the problems go away.
November 25, 2010
Fr. Henri Nouwen [images/stories/historical_people/henri_nouwen.jpg]RICHMOND HILL, ONT. - World famous Catholic author Fr. Henri Nouwen has a new resting place, in an Anglican cemetery. In July Nouwen’s remains were moved from the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in King City north of Toronto to St. John’s Anglican Cemetery in Richmond Hill. The author of The Wounded Healer, The Inner Voice and The Return of the Prodigal Son had been buried at Sacred Heart in 1996 after his sudden death while visiting his native Holland.
Rich poor [images/stories/misc/misc08/richPoor.jpg]TORONTO - With elections looming next year both provincially and nationally, political parties are jockeying to position themselves on poverty. At Queen’s Park politicians made time to talk to the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition Nov. 18 and trade blows over who really cares about the poor. In Ottawa, opposition politicians ganged up on the Conservatives Nov. 17 to issue a 300-page report calling for a national poverty reduction strategy to support the half-dozen provincial plans.
Markham, Ont. - One teenager doesn’t attend Mass regularly because he finds it boring. Another prefers sleeping in on Sunday. Whatever the excuse for skipping Mass, we’ve heard it before. But some parishes in Toronto are offering a solution: youth Masses. Grade 12 student Isaac Peiris attends youth mass because it speak to issues he’s experiencing while avoiding the generation gap sometimes found at traditional Masses.
Natalie Achonwa [images/stories/ysn/ysn10/natalie-achonwa.jpg]Natalie Achonwa graduated from a Hamilton, Ont., high school to the University of Notre Dame and went right into the record book. The budding basketball star is the first international player to suit up for Notre Dame’s varsity basketball team in the 34-year history of the women’s program. And, although she just turned 18 last week, she is already a two-year veteran of the Canadian women’s senior national team.
I am involved in the University of Saskatchewan’s Newman Centre, a Catholic student group supported by the diocese. The Centre began in 1926 both to spread Cardinal Newman’s message of the integration of faith and reason in education and to create a refuge for Catholic students in a time of hatred and suspicion towards Catholics.
Bishop Gary Gordon [images/stories/canada_bishops/gordonbishopgary.jpg]TORONTO - My wife and I were serving soup and sandwiches to university students at the Newman Centre on the campus of the University of Toronto when we first met Bishop Gary Gordon, the bishop of Whitehorse. We felt that we already knew the bishop because we had seen him featured in two fine documentaries on Salt + Light TV. Strangely enough, the gathering was called “A Retreat in the City,” and Gordon came through the front door, rosy cheeked and carrying a back pack and looking as if he had just pulled himself off the Chilkoot Trail. It seemed to me that the last thing he would be seeking would be solace in the Big Smoke.
celebraating spirit [images/stories/education/education10/celebratespirit.jpg]TORONTO - Catholic schools will be “celebrating the Spirit” when the annual celebration of Catholic Education Week arrives in May. The theme for this year’s week, May 1-6, borrows from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”