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May 2011

May 21

Allied diplomats pressed Pope Pius to be silent on Nazi deportations

May 21, 2011

MANCHESTER, England - American and British diplomats discussed exerting pressure on Pope Pius XII to be silent about the Nazi deportations of Hungarian Jews, according to newly discovered documentation. The British feared that the wartime pope might make a "radio appeal on behalf of the Jews in Hungary" and that in the course of his broadcast would "also criticize what the Russians are doing in occupied territory." Sir Francis D'Arcy Osborne, the British ambassador to the Vatican, told an American diplomat that "something should be done to prevail upon the pope not to do this as it will have very serious political repercussions." Osborne's comments were made to Franklin C. Gowen, an assistant to Myron Taylor, the U.S. special representative to the Vatican. Gowen recorded the conversation in a letter to Taylor, saying he had promised Osborne that he would bring his concerns to the "immediate attention" of the U.S. ambassador.

Organist’s short stay lasts 60 years - and counting

May 21, 2011

When he arrived from Germany in 1951, the then 20-year-old Heribert Michel planned to stay in Canada for three years. He wanted to get work experience as an organist and choir director and learn a new language after graduating at the top of his class from Germany’s prestigious Regensburg Academy of Church Music. His uncle, a priest, expected him back in Germany to be the new organist and choir director when reconstruction of their parish, destroyed during the Second World War, was complete. So much for those plans. Sixty years later, Michel remains in Canada. After meeting his wife, Suzanne, he chose to stay, settling in Peterborough, Ont., where the couple raised four children and now have 10 grandchildren. The diocese of Peterborough is celebrating Michel’s six decades of service through his music ministry. On May 21, an anniversary Mass was to be held at St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral, officiated by Bishop Nicola De Angelis, with a reception to follow. Among the special guests expected are MP Dean Del Mastro, MPP Jeff Leal, papal knights and Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.

May 22

Couple’s musical celebration illustrates the life of Christ

May 22, 2011

If he who sings prays twice, Joan and Michael Maloney have four lifetimes of prayer between them. The two singers are currently preparing for Behold the Man!, a musical celebration of the rosary, which premieres on May 29 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Simcoe, Ont. The repertoire, entirely composed by Joan Maloney, illustrates the life of Jesus through the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries. “I’ve always wanted to write a song cycle,” said Joan, who has performed professionally, composed and taught music her whole life. “And then one day at Mass, I was looking at the statue of the Blessed Virgin and it came to me that what I’d really like to do is write a song cycle honouring her and our Lord, and so I decided to write it on the rosary.” The result was Behold the Man!, a 15-song program that features Joan, a soprano, husband Michael, a tenor, as well as pianist Linda Bonadeo-Boll and reader Michael Fidler.

May 24

God prepares us for our glorious inheritance

May 24, 2011

Ascension of the Lord (Year A) June 5 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20) Angelic figures floating on clouds and playing harps — that is the image of heaven portrayed in many cartoons, stories and works of art. In an ancient worldview it makes perfect sense — God is “up there” in the sky from where He dispatches thunderbolts, rain, sun, plagues and so on. But this view came unravelled with the arrival of modern science and the growth of human knowledge. One of the first Soviet cosmonauts remarked smugly to a believer that he hadn’t seen any God during his trip into space. But our encounter with the transcendent, God, is not spatial or temporal. It is relational, and relationship begins on Earth through our relationships with one another, with the created world and with the deepest part of our own soul. Jesus is about to reveal this to the assembled disciples. First of all, they want a quick fix: are you going to throw the Romans out and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel now? But He rather brusquely dismisses their concerns, in effect, it is none of their business but God’s, and God has other plans. Their mission is to sit tight and wait for the bestowal of power from on high — the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Tough on trafficking

May 24, 2011

The 18-year-old woman arrived from Africa to begin a new life working in a Vancouver hair salon. At least, that was the promise. But when she landed, according to police, her employer confiscated her passport and used threats and intimidation to force the young woman to work seven days a week, 18 hours a day as an unpaid household servant. A virtual slave. She lived that way for a year, alone and terrified, before escaping to a women’s shelter. Her ordeal has resulted in a Vancouver woman facing charges of human trafficking, a crime that is rampant around the world. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.4 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking. It is a $32-billion global industry, behind only drug smuggling and gun-running as the most lucrative international criminal activities. It thrives because the world abounds with poor, vulnerable people who are easily exploited, but also because for every victim lured or snatched from their home there is someone willing to acquire human cargo.

God and violence

May 24, 2011

God is non-violent. God does not prescribe violence. Violence should never be rationalized in God’s name. That is clear in Christian revelation. But that immediately poses the question: What about the violence in Scripture that is attributed to God or to God’s direct orders? Doesn’t God, in anger, wipe out the entire human race, save for Noah and his family? Doesn’t God ask Abraham to kill Isaac on an altar of sacrifice? Doesn’t Moses have to talk God out of destroying Israel because God is angry? Didn’t Jesus kick over the tables of the money-changers in anger? What about extremist Islam today, killing thousands of people in God’s name? God, it seems, has prescribed and sanctioned a lot of violence and killing from ancient times right down until today. How do we explain all the violence attributed to God?

May 25

We have a duty to the common good

May 25, 2011

A Toronto police officer was giving a presentation on personal safety when he made the remark, “I’ve been told not I’m not supposed to say this — however, women should avoid dressing like (promiscuous women) in order not to be victimized.” He used an expression that I’m not sure my editor will pass, and it certainly didn’t pass muster with his audience. They made such a fuss that thousands of women across the world have attempted to shame him — not rapists, but him — by marching through the streets holding signs saying “I’m a (promiscuous woman).” The signs are sometimes accompanied by sexually provocative costumes and assertions that women should be able to wear whatever we want without any negative consequences whatsoever. These marches have been dubbed (Promiscuous Woman) Walk by their own organizers. Toronto had the first. I was invited to “(Promiscuous Woman) Walk Edinburgh,” and I spent hours thinking about it. I agree with the organizers that no woman deserves to be raped for what she wears or any other reason whatsoever. On the other hand, I disagree that is what the police officer was saying. Anyone who asserts that he said women who dress like (promiscuous women) are to blame if they are raped is lying. Moreover, I find the idea of marching through the streets holding a sign saying “I’m a (promiscuous woman)” distasteful.

Missionary work is cultural as well

May 25, 2011

The first Jesuits in North America arrived 400 years ago. In 1611, two Jesuit priests arrived in what is now Nova Scotia, a few months after the local Mi’kmaq chief decided to be baptized along with his family, becoming the first aboriginal Christians in Canada. With the conversion of the chief, the first Jesuits found a secure welcome and lived with the Mi’kmaq for several years. Consequently the quatercentenary emphasized the initial encounter between the Jesuits and the Mi’kmaq. But as reported in The Catholic Register (Jesuits mark 400 years of ministry in Canada), the Mi’kmaq were not only looking to the past. They want the Jesuits to help with the future. “Maybe it’s time for the Mi’kmaq to ask for your help in preserving our language,” said Grand Keptin Antle Denny. Young people do not learn their mother tongue; indeed the new mother tongue is English for about 70 per cent of Mi’kmaq. Their historic tongue will be extinct within 20 years. What the Jesuits can do about that is not clear. Yet the Mi’kmaq were on to something — there is a longstanding connection between Christian missionaries and the preservation and enrichment of indigenous languages.

Abuse issue used to attack Catholic Church

May 25, 2011

When we discuss the abuse crisis it is extraordinarily difficult to sound fair and sympathetic. Because if we are the former, we seem to lack in the latter; if the latter, we often neglect the former. To describe what happened is sometimes assumed to be a defence or even some sort of vile justification. The problem is that there are still cases coming to light, and even when the grime has finally been left behind, there will still be people who wish to beat the Church with the stick of sexual abuse. So we have to be bold and hope that stating truth will offend only those who have no sense of balance when it comes to Catholicism. Denial is immoral, obfuscation as bad. Perhaps as many as two per cent of clergy were directly or indirectly involved, the typical victim was a teenage boy and for the most part the reaction of bishops and bureaucracy was to order the abuser to change parish, seek counselling and never repeat the crime.

Scarboro Missions priest works to preserve Makushi myths

May 25, 2011

TORONTO - There are about 6,900 languages in the world. Anthropologists and linguists believe 90 per cent of them will be extinct by the end of this century. But Scarboro Mission priest Fr. Ron MacDonell is doing his best to save one of them. MacDonell works with the Makushi people deep in the Amazon rainforest, near the border between Brazil and Guyana. Working with his parishioners, MacDonnell has produced a trilingual book of Makushi myths in Makushi, Portuguese and English. The English title for the collection of 30 legends and folk tales is Jaguars, Tapirs and Foxes. Years in the making, the book is only MacDonell’s latest effort to give momentum to Makushi language and culture. In 2008 he published a Makushi dictionary and since 2006 he has worked with native Makushi speakers to broadcast Makushi lessons on the Raraima diocese’s FM radio station.

Art as conversation with God

May 25, 2011

Whether your artwork rivals the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or is composed mainly of stick people, it’s a good enough tool for prayer on the Sacred Art Retreat. The retreat, which first ran in 2003, explores using art as a way of achieving a deep intimacy with God. On May 27, more than a dozen retreatants began eight days of “walking and praying in the presence of God” at Invermara, a retreat house in Orillia, Ont. It’s the first of two retreats this summer. “This retreat is not art therapy, it is a way of being in conversation with God,” said Sr. Virginia Varley, CSJ, who has been directing the retreat since 2006. “It’s quite different for some people,” she said, adding that art is generally not thought of as a tool for prayer.

Bibby moves beyond his traditional theories

May 25, 2011

Reginald Bibby has always told the digital story of religion in Canada. Everything was explainable in numbers. In Beyond the Gods and Back, Bibby finds an analogue tale behind the numbers — a tale of shifting religious perceptions and motivations. Bibby, a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, has been studying religious involvement in Canada since the mid-1970s, producing four books on the subject. His approach has been shaped by two academic perspectives — secularization and rational choice theory. Bibby talks about a marketplace for religion that is characterized by constant but changing demand and a varying number of suppliers, each vying for a greater share of the market. According to this theory, religious organizations will be more or less successful in the religious marketplace depending on their ability to meet contemporary needs of their members.

Slight rise in Canadian fertility rates

May 25, 2011

For the sixth year in a row Canada’s birth rate has inched up, but a polarized job market and pressure on young couples to obtain and pay for their education before starting a family is pushing mothers up against a biological wall. Statistics Canada reported the nation’s fertility rate for 2008 was 1.68 children per woman, up slightly from 1.66 per woman in 2007. The 2008 fertility rate produced 377,886 babies, a 2.7-per-cent increase over 2007. Much of the increase can be attributed to the population bulge of children of baby boomers, the so-called “echo generation,” now in their 20s and 30s. “Canada, in terms of fertility, is the middle of the pack (compared to other Western nations),” said Vanier Institute for the Family director of programs Katherine Scott. “Obviously, we’re below the replacement rate of 2.1.”

World Youth Day preparations in full swing

May 25, 2011

VATICAN CITY - With fewer than three months to go, preparations for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid are heating up and organizers are promising a “fiesta,” adding a Spanish flavour to the traditional opportunities for prayer, friendship, music and religious education. As of May 7, organizers reported 347,965 youths had registered for the Aug. 16-21 event, which Pope Benedict XVI will attend. The figure included 5,439 from Canada. The Italians — always a big contingent at World Youth Day — were leading the pack with 65,196 registrants, outpacing even the Spaniards by more than 10,000. While registering has benefits — including priority seating at papal events — young people seem to know they won’t be turned away, and so, an earlier estimate of 1.5 million participants seems to be right on track. “We can’t predict how many will register at the last minute,” said Fr. Eric Jacquinet, the official in charge of the youth section at the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the official sponsor of World Youth Day. At WYD Paris in 1997, he said, 300,000 young people pre-registered and there were 1.2 million people at the closing vigil and closing Mass with Blessed John Paul II.

Knowing the Church one day at a time

May 25, 2011

There are two ways to live. You can merely survive or you can thrive. Jesus Christ became human so that all of us might thrive, that we “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). But while Jesus promises life to the full, He also gave all power and authority to the Church to be an instrument of guidance and grace for all of God’s people. If Christ calls us to resurrection, then it is through the earthly kingdom — the Church — that we come to that new life. Of course we should receive the sacraments and pray, but we should do so while entering into the fullness of the liturgical life of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church poses this to us: “What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints? The communion of saints is the Church” (946). The saints, enjoying God’s glory now, are always praying for us. If we want to get closer to Christ, then we should be learning about the ones who knew Him best and learning about their holy witness. The Church’s feasts throughout the liturgical year highlight this fact. In all her wisdom, she understands that we need help in attaining our heavenly goal, giving us shining examples by which to live. Far from distracting us from the source and summit of our faith — the Eucharist — the liturgical feasts lift us up and point us back towards Christ.

Catholic students among TD scholarship winners

May 25, 2011

TORONTO - Tiffany Harrington spearheaded a school initiative to send sleeping mats made out of plastic milk bags to orphans in Haiti. Her efforts saw 12,000 milk bags — and counting — collected, which are then crocheted into the mats. This community spirit helped Harrington, a Grade 12 student at Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa, Ont., win one of 20 TD Bank Scholarships for Community Leadership. Harrington, Miranda Dela Cruz, a Grade 12 student at Francis Libermann Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, and Wei-En Wong, a Grade 12 student from St. Robert Catholic High School in Thornhill, are the only winners from Toronto-area Catholic schools. Each of the 20 scholarships is valued at up to $70,000, which includes up to $10,000 per year for tuition to a post-secondary institute in Canada and up to $7,500 for living expenses and books. In addition, winners are also offered guaranteed summer employment with TD over their four years of school.

Teaching excellence award goes to Toronto teacher

May 25, 2011

TORONTO - Toronto Catholic District School Board veteran Léa Lacerenza has won this year’s Premier’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Lifetime Achievement for her innovative work in special education. Lacerenza has worked in special education with the TCDSB for 31 years, the past 23 years seconded to the Learning Disabilities Research Program at Sick Kids Hospital as the senior research teacher and lead writer in curriculum development and programs. Lacerenza leads the collaboration between Sick Kids and the board in developing innovative techniques designed to help students with severe learning disabilities through the Empower Program. The Empower Reading Programs are now taught in hundreds of schools across North America. Lacerenza says her experience with her youngest sister, Diana, who had a mild learning disability, first motivated her to work with students with learning disabilities. Diana “was immensely talented, smart and creative,” Lacerenza recalled. But in the 1970s, Diana was streamed into a vocational program because of her learning disability. This helped Lacerenza discover her professional vocation.

Clergy appointments

May 25, 2011

The following is a list of the clergy appointments for the Archdiocese of Toronto that take effect on June 30. Listed is the priest’s name and the parish they will serve.

It’s a tent, no, it’s a bell, no, it’s.... Pope John Paul II?

May 25, 2011

ROME - The city of Rome erected its first statue of Blessed Pope John Paul II and the reviews are not good. The Vatican newspaper said what a lot of people were thinking: it’s ugly. Sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi intended to show the late pope with his cape billowing in the wind, as a symbolic image of welcome. The five-metre-tall bronze sculpture was placed outside Rome’s main train station, where tens of thousands of visitors arrive daily. But when unveiled May 18, it looked more like an open tent, or a sentry-box, or a bell, commented L’Osservatore Romano. The papal cape looks like it was split open by a bomb. More importantly, the newspaper said, it’s unrecognizable as John Paul II — the head is “excessively spherical.”

Register’s Michael Coren honoured for defence of faith

May 25, 2011

TORONTO - Michael Coren, Catholic author and journalist, has been chosen this year’s recipient of the Catholic Civil Rights League’s Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Catholic Excellence in Public Life. The annual award recognizes outstanding lay achievement in advocacy, education, life issues and philanthropy. “Michael’s really done a lot to promote Catholic understanding,” said Joanne McGarry, executive director of the CCRL. She said that Coren was chosen because of his “consistent and clear defence of Catholic teaching in the media.” “I’m more than happy to be out on the front lines defending the Church, my Church, but the blows, the abuse and the attacks certainly cut deep at times,” said Coren. “So this honour, this affirmation, is wonderful. For someone who always has something to say, I’m almost speechless.”