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January 2011

January 18

Everyday church life touches the community's soul

January 18, 2011

The tremendous events in the life of the Church crash like waves upon the shores of our parish communities. Sometimes they wash over us, but more often than not they are merely noticed; the effects are not felt until later. The smaller, more local things take precedence. Last week the May beatification of the late Pope John Paul II was announced; this news was splashed across the journals of the world but went unremarked upon at my Sunday Mass. Last week, too, three former Anglican bishops were ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood. This launched the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the only reunification of the Church of England with the Church of Rome I expect to see. This was briefly mentioned in the homily, and my formerly Anglo-Catholic husband chatted merrily with his formerly Anglo-Catholic friends on the topic over drinks after Mass. But the real event of the week, and the first thing mentioned in the homily, was that one of our altar servers was hit by a car thief last Sunday and had sustained a broken leg.

Some causes just have to be made

January 18, 2011

The beatification of Pope John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday this year has brought joy to both Catholics and non-Catholics the world over. At the same time, questions have been raised about the speed of the process, and whether there was a rush to judgment in this case. Anticipating such questions, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints released a summary of the process last week, outlining that all the usual procedures were followed in John Paul’s case. The only difference was that Pope Benedict XVI gave permission for the process to begin in 2005, lifting the usual five-year waiting period. John Paul himself had done the same thing for Mother Teresa. The point of the five-year waiting period is to ensure that there is a genuine, enduring devotion among the faithful to the potential candidate. In a few rare cases, the five-year period is unnecessary as such devotion was already present at the time of death.

There's no clipping the wings of Super-Girl

January 18, 2011

At their best, journalists are supposed to speak truth unto power. Sadly, too many utter power unto truth. And one of the fundamental truths of the modern age is that the most vulnerable members of our society, and thus those as Catholics we are supposed to defend, are the handicapped. At every stage of their lives they are targeted: in the womb, when they are older, when they cannot speak for themselves. This was made startlingly clear for me when my sister gave birth to her second child. Katie was born several weeks premature and spent rather a long time in hospital. She came home accompanied by a nursing team, to a house wired for oxygen. Katie had two strokes when she was tiny and is now classified as being autistic. This, by the way, after an abortion had been suggested earlier in the pregnancy.

A worthy blessed

January 18, 2011

“Santo subito!” they shouted in the days after his death — “Sainthood now!” for Pope John Paul II. If ever existed someone worthy of exemption from the Vatican’s five-year waiting period before initiating a cause for sainthood, Pope John Paul II was it. That seemed obvious to thousands of mourners who filled the streets after John Paul’s death in 2005. So, too, was it clear to his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, who steered John Paul onto an express lane to sainthood that will bring the quickest beatification in the history of the modern Church.

Bioethics series aimed at people in the pews

January 18, 2011

TORONTO - From stem cell research and cloning to physician-assisted suicide and terminal sedation, Catholics seeking to better understand emerging issues in bioethics should mark their calendars. For People in the Pews, an “everyday bioethics” lecture series run by the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute (CCBI), seeks to help Catholics better understand the Church’s position on various issues. Starting on Feb. 3, the series will run weekly for a month at St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland parish in Toronto. Now in its fifth year, this is the first time the series is coming to the parish.

Christian-Muslim dialogue expanding

January 18, 2011

TORONTO - For most interfaith dialogues vast theological differences and hundreds of years of mutual suspicion and prejudice are quite enough to deal with. The National Liaison Committee of Muslims and Christians wants more. The official dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Canada decided to take on poverty, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, faith formation of the next generation and politics at its annual dinner on the campus of the University of Toronto Jan. 11.

The Beatification Coming Down the Road

January 18, 2011

The speculation proved true, (watch the video here or read the Catholic Register story here) and the date set. The Beatification of John Paul II will take place on May 1st and the celebrations have already begun. It is possible that no one is as overjoyed as Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, the French Nun who was miraculously cleared of Parkinson’s. Within days of Benedict XVI’s announcement, different groups expressed their own excitement and perspectives on the decision; The Pontifical Academy for Life was quick off the mark describing the Pope as “a great lover of life and defender” of the unborn.”, The Pontifical Council for the Laity was as excited and announced that for the up coming World Youth Day in Madrid “the future Blessed Pope John Paul would be one of the official patrons of the gathering.”, which seems particularly apt given that John Paul created World Youth Day, and the John Paul Center announced that a church being built in Krakow will feature “A vial containing blood drawn from Pope John Paul II shortly before he died…installed as a relic in a Polish church soon after his beatification this year.” Not everyone is pleased with the speed at which the former Pope is being Beatified. Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today canvasses verious opinions within the Church objecting to the decision on a variety of grounds, as does John Allen Jr at the National Catholic Register, while Jimmy Akin at the National Catholic Register and his colleague Pat Archbold debate whether the speed of this beatification is perhaps too swift. Phil Lawlor of Catholic Culture is firing back at the critics, Father Raymond J. de Souza of the Catholic Register has a nicely argued take on the question of a rush to judgement that is well worth reading. William Oddie at the Catholic Herald squares the circle so to speak in an essay enitled “The beatification of Pope John Paul has surprised no one: but it is a great day for the Church: By the time of his death, his greatness had become universally perceived”. It is still early days in the planning process of the ceremony itself but some details are trickling out. This report from EWTN news has the latest details.

January 19

Anglicans invited to Catholic Church conference

January 19, 2011

Archbishop Collins [images/stories/canada_bishops/collinsMiter.jpg]OTTAWA - Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins has invited Anglican groups interested in joining the Catholic Church through the formation of a Canadian Ordinariate to attend a conference in Mississauga March 24-26. “To help move our dialogue and planning forward, I would like to extend an invitation to all those interested in Anglicanorum coetibus to join me for a conference dedicated to this topic,” Collins said in an open letter posted Jan. 18 on the Toronto archdiocese’s web site. “I look forward to meeting with clergy and laity from across the country this March to engage in prayer, fellowship and dialogue as we move forward with this important initiative.” Selected by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Collins is the episcopal delegate for Canada charged with liaising with Anglican groups interested in an ordinariate, the congregation and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Collins has invited Fr. Christopher Phillips, who founded the first Anglican Use parish in the United States in 1983 under Pope John Paul II’s Pastoral Provision, to attend the conference.

Canadian Church to enter into dialogue with Evangelicals

January 19, 2011

Margaret O'Gara [images/stories/canada_people/ogara.jpg]OTTAWA - The Catholic Church in Canada has agreed to begin a formal theological dialogue with Evangelicals. “It’s a new thing in Canada,” said Margaret O’Gara, a theology professor at Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College who has been involved in Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox dialogue for the past 35 years. She will be among the Catholic participants. “We all have the expectation that this will be a personally enriching experience and that, hopefully, we will contribute to the strength of the Church in Canada,” said David Freeman, who is strategic interface vice president for the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada. Freeman will be the Evangelical co-chair of the dialogue, with Regina Archbishop Daniel Bohan as the Catholic co-chair. The first set of meetings will take place March 24-25 in Toronto.

January 21

Halton board adopts new policy to silence critics

January 21, 2011

Schoolboard gay [images/stories/education/education10/gayapple.jpg]This revised article clarifies a Jan. 20 version TORONTO — Facing media scrutiny and lobbying from gay rights' groups, Halton Catholic school trustees have passed a new equity policy that, while not explicitly banning gay-straight alliance clubs, is based on Catholic teaching, says the Halton Catholic board. The new policy adopts a distinctly Catholic approach to equity within schools that is used in many boards in Ontario and was drafted by a consortium representing several of the boards. The Halton board voted 6-2 on Jan. 18 to scrap a two-month old equity policy, implemented by the previous board, that had banned gay-straight alliances, also known as GSAs. That decision sparked a campaign by gay activists who sought to overturn the ban. Although the Halton board stopped short of explicitly banning GSAs, the Jan. 18 vote does not necessarily mean the board endorses the controversial clubs. The Catholic approach to equity adopted by the board provides for inclusive measures to deal with discrimination, bullying and harassment that are directed at all students, gay or otherwise.

John Paul II's beatification delights Canadians

January 21, 2011

John Paul II [images/stories/historical_people/PopeJohnPaulII/JPII.jpg]TORONTO - Canada’s Polish community is rejoicing, but not particularly surprised, that Pope John Paul II will be beatified in May, said Fr. Chester Chmurzynski, pastor at St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church, a Polish parish in Oakville, Ont. “It’s no surprise,” said Chmurzynski, who was a student of the late pope during his seminary years in Krakow, Poland. “Right after his death, people were already saying ‘Santo subito.’ (sainthood now). “He was a good teacher and a good example. For students, he was very tough. But he was also very friendly and always smiling. He was a good man.” On Jan. 14, Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II’s intercession — the cure of a French nun from Parkinson’s disease — the last step needed for his beatification set for May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday. On that day, Pope John Paul II will be declared “blessed” and granted restricted liturgical honour. Another miracle is needed for canonization, whereby the Church would declare him a saint and worthy of universal veneration. Pope Benedict sped up the beatification process in 2005 by abolishing the normal five-year waiting period for the introduction of his sainthood cause. Three separate Vatican panels approved the miracle, including medical and theological experts, before Benedict XVI signed the official decree.

January 23

Is Everything about Communications?

January 23, 2011

Sometimes events seem to simply conspire to come together and given that Monday is the Annual World Day of Social Communications and the Vatican is still scrambling to deal with the fallout of the RTE report of a Letter to the Bishops of Ireland in 1997 dealing with the question of what to do and how to deal with the then emerging Sexual Abuse Scandal this would seem to be one of those times. At the same time the Apostolic Visitation ordered by the Vatican (See the Catholic Register Report on Archbishop Collins, who plays a key role in the Visitation) seems to be doing significant good in terms of turning a page in the whole tragic affair. This is the 45th Annual World Day of Social Communications and as has been the case in the past the Papal message for the day confronts the issue of truth and media, especially in the digital age. The day chosen for the meditation is the feast day of Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists, and Benedict XVI has some truly apt thoughts about the role of journalists in bringing to light the truth of the world: “To approach the truth and to take on the task of sharing it requires the "guarantee" of an authenticity of life from those who work in the media, and especially from Catholic journalists; an authenticity of life that is no less required in a digital age.” Key to the AWDSC message is the question of authenticity and motivation of the journalists and their organizations in the reporting of the news. Given that much of last week’s ‘news’ about the Church dealt with the revelations concerning the ‘letter’ broadcast by RTE as the Apostolic Visitation was underway (some cynics have remarked on the choice of the ‘hook’ in the timing of the broadcast given that RTE was in possession of the letter for some time) it is apt to try and link the two. The immediate reaction to the news of the letter was that it was “the smoking gun” that linked the abuse scandal to the Vatican itself. The New York Times certainly took that slant, as did the BBC and other news outlets while the Vatican immediately insisted that the media was misinterpreting the letter. In some of the more sober and knowledgeable second day analysis the actual ‘truth’ of the matter becomes somewhat clearer but not necessarily more comforting. John Allen Jr of the National Catholic Register takes on the idea that this letter is a ‘smoking gun’ and concludes it is not. That’s an assessment that Phil Lawler of Catholic Culture signs off on while noting that the letter does speak to the issue of ‘secrecy’ within the Church at the time, something he finds as troubling. David Gibson writing at the Commonweal Blog accepts Allen’s analysis but suggests that smoking gun or not the Vatican is once again engaging in a clumsy communications strategy. That may be but that clearly doesn’t seem to be the case with the Apostolic Visitation going on in Ireland, and given that it is about the present and moving forward maybe this is ultimately the more important story here. The news reports and statements by victims meeting with the Visitation suggest for the most part that this stage of dealing with the Abuse Scandal seems to be going well. As the Register reports Collins has “urged the Irish to be thankful for the work of journalists who brought the scandals of sexual abuse to light. "What does the most persistent journalist who reports priestly evil-doing have in common with St. John Vianney, the holy Curé of Ars, patron of parish priests? They both expect priests to be holy." Archbishop Collins maybe touching the heart of the Social Communications Day message, after all finding some sense of reconciliation maybe the true heart of authentic communications.

January 26

Hospital boards evolve, not always for the better

January 26, 2011

When Ontario Minister of Health Deb Matthews appointed a supervisor to run Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital Jan. 5, the government-appointed new man took charge of the hospital’s board — including responsibility for the hospital’s Catholic mission and identity. The previous board chair was dismissed 10 days before Christmas by Catholic Health International, which owns the hospital. That followed a provincial investigation last summer that highlighted an “alarming lack of respect between medical leaders, senior management and the board of directors.” The dismissed board chair would not comment on whether the board was getting the job done at the Windsor hospital. Read More

Light will flow from an awakened heart

January 26, 2011

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Feb. 6 (Isaiah 58:6-10; Psalm 112; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16) What makes a people, society or nation holy or spiritual? For many it is the visible signs of religiosity: crucifixes, churches and places of worship, liturgical celebrations and a privileged place for religious symbols and practices. There is a certain security and comfort in these traditions but often they amount to little more than identity markers and signs of belonging. Isaiah — as many of the other prophets — questions the manner in which they are used. He makes it crystal clear that the worship of God is properly expressed in justice and compassionate action. He calls for the zealous removal of all forms of economic, social and political bondage that enslaves people. In addition to that he insists on active and hands-on forms of compassion: sharing with the poor and hungry, even to the point of inconvenience and personal sacrifice. Probably the most difficult command is removing the “pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil” — both are things we love to do, especially if we are convinced we are right or morally and spiritually superior.

Seeing humanity's place in the universe

January 26, 2011

The Great Pavement in Westminster Abbey is one of the most beautiful and significant architectural decorations to survive in England from the Middle Ages. Designed and executed by Italian craftsmen in the 1260s by order of King Henry III, this splendid mosaic consists of myriad cut sections of coloured stone and glass set in abstract geometrical patterns into a dark limestone base. The materials are sumptuous: purple porphyry, green serpentine, yellow limestone, pieces of which had been salvaged from ancient Roman buildings and sculptures and brought to England specifically for this project. Everything about this royal commission speaks of its high importance. Its position is immediately before the abbey’s high altar, the key liturgical focus of the church. Its design, a series of interrelated orbs and triangles, was clearly intended to be, and is, an artisanal masterpiece.

Militant Islam is winning

January 26, 2011

In the nearly 10 years since 9/11, the preoccupying question has remained: Was the jihadist violence of that day representative of Islam or a perversion of it? From Sept. 12 onwards, everyone from U.S. President George W. Bush to the Prince of Wales has assured us that Islam is a religion of peace. The vast majority of commentators in general, and Christian thinkers in particular, have accepted that. After all, there have been long periods in history of peaceful Islamic rule, and across the Islamic world today, jihadist extremism is fought against by Muslim leaders themselves. Daniel Pipes, one of the strongest critics of radicalized Islam, makes the point clearly: “It’s a mistake to blame Islam, a religion 14 centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution.”

Schools are tolerant

January 26, 2011

Last November the Halton Catholic District School board passed an equity policy that explicitly banned gay-straight alliances. Following an outcry from gay activists, a new board of trustees cancelled that policy and replaced it with one that, although making no mention of gay-straight alliances, was widely interpreted as an endorsement of the controversial after-school clubs and a victory for those who would see Catholic values trumped in schools by secular morality. If that were indeed true, it would be a sad day for Catholic education. The primary role of trustees is to be faithful guardians of the morals and values that are the bedrock of Catholic education. So what happened in Halton?

Only the narrow-minded, bigoted claim religion is evil

January 26, 2011

Since I began writing about religion almost four years ago I’ve noticed that anything written by myself or anyone else that suggests some good coming out of faith is generally mocked as covering up a great evil. The usual argument is that anything good that comes out of religion is more of an accident than any essential by-product of the faith itself. Christopher Hitchens summed up this idea perfectly when he was in Toronto a few months ago to debate Tony Blair on the value of religion. Mr. Blair pointed out that religious groups do all sorts of great charitable work, especially in the developing world. Mr. Hitchens said any good works done in the name of God should be viewed as penance for the preponderance of evil committed by religious groups today and throughout history. Mr. Blair might as well have been banging his head against a cement wall.

Catholic, United Church committee work on marriage statement

January 26, 2011

OTTAWA - A joint committee from the Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada are in the draft stages of a shared statement on marriage, despite being on opposing sides of the marriage debate. The draft is the result of six years of focused dialogue on marriage and it could be another two years before it is made public. It will be a joint statement but not a consensus document, said Julien Hammond, an Edmonton archdiocese ecumenical officer who has participated in the dialogue on behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). “The readers will be surprised the dialoguers have so much agreement,” he said.

Socially responsible investing goes mainstream

January 26, 2011

In the 20th century big business was strictly business. But in the 21st century companies can’t stay in business if they’re ignoring the environment, hushing talk of human and labour rights or not returning calls from shareholders who want to know what the board is doing and why. Socially responsible investors are no longer on the fringe of the investment world. Where 10 years ago talk of ethical investing drew smirks and rolling eyeballs, today it’s a top-line concern of boards, CEOs and CFOs. “The huge difference (compared to 10 years ago) is that we’ve seen acceptance in the mainstream,” said Michael Jantzi, CEO and founder of Jantzi Sustainalytics. On the environment, social issues and governance, corporations now see non-financial issues, once considered “externalities,” central to running a successful business in the long term, said Jantzi, who established Canada’s socially responsible investing (SRI) stock index — the Jantzi Social Index — in 2000. “We’re only going to see an increased level of interest in these issues,” he said. Particularly on the environment, corporations now regard the risks as anything but external, said Social Investment Organization executive director Eugene Ellmen. “The BP disaster really was a wake-up call. It was a wake-up call for the mainstream industry,” said Ellmen. SRI investors knew BP was running risks in the Gulf of Mexico long before it happened and avoided the stock. Investors who ignored the environmental risks paid the price. The investment industry in Canada is not the world leader in sustainable, socially responsible investment. With 13 separate jurisdictions and regulators at the federal level opting for voluntary codes of conduct and optional enforcement, the global investment industry is setting the tone. Two international covenants have become central pillars in the world of ESG (environment, social and governance) investing. The Carbon Disclosure Project includes 534 institutional investors around the world representing $64 trillion in assets. The corporations and investment funds that subscribe to the London-based CDP are committed to researching and publishing the amount of carbon their business operations release into the atmosphere. Four-hundred-and-eighty-five investment managers, 220 asset owners and 168 professional service partners with $22 trillion in assets under management have signed the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment. The stock market meltdown of fall 2008 didn’t drive the big investors away from ESG. The largest number of UNPRI signatories came on board after the crisis. In Canada, the big public pension funds are leading the way. The Caisse de dépot et placement du Quebec, OPSEU Pension Trust, British Columbia Municipal Pension Plan and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are all signatories to the UNPRI. “On the Canadian scene specifically, I think we’ve got some great leadership here in the pension community,” said Jantzi. When the big pension funds call up asking about future environmental liabilities, Canada’s publicly traded companies respond. “Institutional investors are continuing to press for more disclosure on environmental, social and governance issues,” said Jantzi. “And the companies are having to respond.” Canadian markets will be led more by global trends than local regulation, according to Jantzi. “On a global scale, Canadian financial markets just don’t have a huge amount of heft,” he said. Canadian regulators, particularly the Ontario Securities Commission, are beginning to set conditions that will make SRI standard practice. The OSC may soon require publicly traded companies to “say-on-pay.” The SRI community has long demanded that boards reveal how much CEOs and other senior management make — and disclose what incentives are built into their compensation. Even without enforceable say-on-pay rules, ESG Services, working for Ethical Funds and its parent NEI Investments, has been researching how oil sands company CEOs are paid, and whether their pay is tied to reductions in environmental liabilities. They’ve found that the oil sands bosses get paid even if nobody knows how much it will cost shareholders to clean up vast tailing ponds or compensate native communities for downstream health outcomes. For private investors — people who typically buy mutual funds at tax time — the chance to influence corporate Canada on the environment, social issues and governance has expanded exponentially in a decade. Where once persistence was required to persuade a financial advisor to sell an SRI mutual fund, now all the big banks offer socially responsible funds. There’s also been a series of buy-outs of smaller SRI mutual fund companies that have made the funds more easily available. Where Ethical Funds were once only available at some credit unions they’re now sold through Desjardins Bank and the independent brokers that deal with Northwest and Ethical Investments (NEI). Acuity mutual funds are now similarly available through the much larger distribution network of AGF Management Limited. “It puts the socially responsible mutual fund companies on more equal footing,” said Jantzi. “A lot of those advantages haven’t fully kicked in yet.” While the funds are more available, it doesn’t mean that they’ve been impressing investors with great results. “The industry has been somewhat disappointed,” said Ellmen. The JSI has struggled to keep pace with conventional stock indices since the 2008 meltdown. “I don’t put too much stock in short-term results,” said Jantzi. “The financial sector continues to struggle and we’re heavily weighted in the financial stocks.” Holding considerable bank and insurance stocks means holding less in oil or gold mining — the resource sectors that have kept Canadian stock exchanges afloat the past two years. “It’s a social index. It’s weighted differently, as you would expect. Over a shorter period of time you will see things struggle,” said Jantzi. Even with disappointing recent results, Canadians continue to be interested in ESG factors in their investments. Social Investment Organization polling suggest 70 per cent of Canadian investors want more information about socially responsible investing, said Ellmen. With between two and three per cent of Canada’s pool of mutual fund money invested in SRI funds, there’s “huge room for growth,” he said.