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June 2011

June 3

Pope, Palestinian leader discuss Holy Land

June 3, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks with Pope Benedict as well as with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti June 3, the Vatican's foreign minister. The Vatican said the talks were "cordial" and focused on "the troubled situation in the Holy Land," according to a written Vatican statement released after the meeting. Particular emphasis was put "on the urgent need to find a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one capable of ensuring respect for the rights of all and, therefore, the attainment of the Palestinian people's legitimate aspirations for an independent state," the Vatican statement said.

Mexican cardinal's letter led to D&P funding cut

June 3, 2011

The Canadian funding of a Mexican human rights organization was cut following a letter from the archbishop of Mexico City that directly accuses the Jesuit-founded body of supporting pro-abortion groups. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) cut the funding for Centro PRODH, whose director recently had speaking engagements cancelled in Ottawa and Cornwall, after Mexican Cardinal Norberto Carrera said the organization "does NOT represent the sentiments of the Church and has been characterized by its support and encouragement of groups and activities that are an affront to Christian values." "With respect to the theme of defence of life, the organization has supported pro-abortion groups and promoted the purported woman's right over her body, against unborn life," said a translation of the letter obtained by The Catholic Register. Carrera's letter was sent to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which two years ago cleared Centro PRODH of similar accusations.

June 4

Extending God’s kingdom for 130 years

June 4, 2011

TORONTO - When Gerard and Basil Breen were in the seminary, Cardinal James McGuigan, then the archbishop of Toronto, said to all the seminarians, “What’s this I hear about priests having business hours?” Priests, he said, were to be available to everyone all the time. The Breen brothers took the cardinal’s words to heart. At 94 and 84 respectively, Msgr. Gerard and Fr. Basil have been “open to the people” for a combined 130 years. This year, the brothers are celebrating the 70th and 60th anniversaries of their ordination to the priesthood. The brothers were born in Toronto nine years apart. Together with their middle brother, Bill, they were a living example of the famous words of the iconic Canadian short story, The Hockey Sweater: “We lived in three places — the school, the church and the skating rink.”

June 5

Kid-friendly catechesis classes

June 5, 2011

TORONTO - Children at 13 parishes in Toronto are learning the basics of the faith in a language that they understand. The young catechism students take part in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a ministry that originated in Rome in 1954 and has been catching on in Catholic parishes across North America. Scriptural scholar Sofia Cavaletti founded the approach and teamed with Gianni Gobbi, a Montessori education specialist, to develop an experiential and hands-on approach of learning for children. “We meet them intellectually, spiritually, emotionally where they are,” said Kathleen Ennis, co-ordinator of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. The catechesis emphasizes sacraments like Baptism and First Communion, and Jesus’ life, teachings and the mystery of the Resurrection.

June 6

League supports Quebec parents opposing religious ban in day care

June 6, 2011

OTTAWA - Quebec’s ban on God, prayers, songs to Jesus and religious instruction in subsidized day cares discriminates against religious believers, says the Catholic Civil Rights League. The League has expressed support for Jewish and Catholic parents who are appealing to the Quebec Superior Court on grounds the ban violates the constitution by infringing on religious freedom. “Quebec is leaning toward suppression and discrimination against believers of any religion,” said Jean Morse-Chevrier, the Quebec director for the League and chair of the Association of Catholic Parents of Quebec. The ban is similar to Quebec’s mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture program (ERC), she said. “In effect, in the name of respect for diversity, the government is abolishing true diversity more and more in educational programs.”

June 7

New Speaker doesn't hide his Catholic faith

June 7, 2011

OTTAWA - The newly-elected Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer, 32, made history June 3 as the youngest MP to be elected to this coveted role that comes with huge responsibilities and accompanying perks. But Scheer’s victory has also sent a message to politicians everywhere that one does not have to separate a robust Catholic faith from public life. The father of four represents Regina-Qu’Appelle which he first won in 2004, but he grew up in Ottawa. His father, Jim Scheer, is a permanent deacon at St. Patrick’s Basilica and his mother Mary is an active member of the parish. His parents and his wife were in the gallery during the vote. Scheer's Catholicity has got him in the spotlight on Parliament Hill in the past. Last spring, Scheer remained cheerful and unfazed when Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP MP Pat Martin tried to make a political issue out of his hosting a luncheon for MPs, Senators and Hill staff featuring a talk by Opus Dei Vicar Msgr. Fred Dolan. The luncheon prompted Duceppe to accuse the Conservatives of being influenced by the “fundamentalist religious right,” and Martin to describe Opus Dei as “creepy.” The attacks coincided with the release of Marci McDonald’s polemical book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada that asserted fundamentalist Christians held too much sway in the Harper government.

Hearing Christ’s heartbeat

June 7, 2011

The Last Supper account in John’s Gospel gives us a wonderful mystical image. The evangelist describes the beloved disciple as reclining on the breast of Jesus. What’s contained in this image? A number of things. First, when you put your head upon someone else’s chest, your ear is just above that person’s heart and you are able to hear his or her heartbeat. Hence, in John’s image, we see the beloved disciple with his ear on Jesus’ heart, hearing Jesus’ heartbeat, and from that perspective looking out into the world. This is John’s ultimate image for discipleship: The ideal disciple is the one who is attuned to Christ’s heartbeat and sees the world with that sound in his or her ear. Then there is a second level to the image. It is an icon of peace, a child at its mother’s breast, contented, satiated, calm, free of tension, not wanting to be anywhere else. This is an image of primal intimacy, of symbiotic oneness, a connection deeper than romantic love. And for John, it is also a eucharistic image. What we see is how John wants us to imagine ourselves when we are at Eucharist because, ultimately, that is what the Eucharist is, a physical reclining on the breast of Christ. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us, physically, a breast to lean on, to nurture at, to feel safe and secure at, from which to see the world.

June 8

Through mercy, love, we dwell in God

June 8, 2011

Trinity Sunday (Year A) June 19 (Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9; Daniel 3; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18) What does God look like? What would it be like to be in God’s presence? The Book of Exodus answers the question in several ways. In some passages, the vision of God is so awesome and terrifying that no one can look upon God and live. Another passage relates that Moses spoke with God face to face as with a friend. In this passage God descends on a cloud, passes before Moses and speaks to him. All of these represent different traditions in ancient Israel that are woven into the narrative of Exodus. God was very real for ancient people, but God does not have human form; God does not walk through the garden in the cool of the evening. We do not speak face to face with God, at least in this life. But the theological truth of these traditions is clear. In the tradition of ancient storytelling these traditions reveal that God is deeply personal and not an abstract concept. This passage also reveals important characteristics of God: merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. This is the image of God that the Israelites clung to throughout their long history and from which they drew strength. It is the gift that they gave to Christianity. Not only that, it is an image we share with Islam — at the very beginning of the Quran God is described as the merciful and compassionate. It is an image of God to which we should all return constantly and strive to imitate for when we depart from it the results are grim and painful for everyone.

Groundbreaking report

June 8, 2011

An exhaustive American study has attempted to answer the imponderable: what caused so many priests to sexually abuse minors over the second half of the 20th century? The authors of the report, from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of New York, spent five years sifting through thousands of pages of data, interviews and surveys from victims, priests and bishops. Their work, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is described as the most complete examination of clergy abuse ever. They found that abuse increased throughout the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s and then drastically declined around the mid-1980s. No single cause was identified but it found a host of social and institutional factors that may explain the sudden spike and just-as-sudden fall. The most controversial of these is that clergy abuse was sparked by a broader decline in society’s moral behaviour typified by the sex and drugs revolution of the 1960s.

Neil MacCarthy: Heritage designations can bind church’s hands

June 8, 2011

The next time you’re faced with an overwhelming home renovation, consider this: collectively, the Catholic, Anglican and United Churches own 3,000 buildings in the province that require a combined $30 million to operate annually. Another $30 million is spent on maintaining “historic properties.” That’s a lot of shingles. Before there were town halls or schools, arenas or the local Tim Horton’s, parishes were the spiritual and community hubs of society, bringing people together to strengthen the neighbourhood. Over the years though, the role of the parish as community centre has changed, and so have the neighbourhoods they serve. While many historic churches continue to thrive, others, sadly, are facing significant challenges, with little or no funds to maintain their facilities, often due to dwindling congregations. While desirable, maintaining all of these churches is just not feasible. A “heritage designation” from various municipal governments has been applied to about 12 per cent of the 3,000 churches in Ontario. Designated churches require permission from their municipality to change in any way the parts of the building that are considered culturally significant, often including pews, windows, altars and other parts of the building used for worship. So if the bishops, priests and laity agree it makes sense to renovate or (as a last resort) demolish a church that is no longer viable, they don’t have a legal right to implement that option.

D&P has a tenuous claim on Catholic dollars

June 8, 2011

It was about two months ago that I wrote about the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P), and the serious questions about its pro-life commitment. It was just after Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., of Ottawa had cancelled the speaking tour of a D&P partner organization in Mexico which collaborated with groups promoting abortion rights. Since then the most frequent question I have been asked by pastors is: What should we do about raising money for D&P? My view is that D&P has a tenuous claim on Catholic dollars because, aside from fundraising in Catholic parishes, they have a tenuous relationship with any distinctively Catholic mission. In their operations they are largely — and by their own proud design — indistinguishable from any number of peace and justice NGOs working in the developing world. Developments since April have underscored how weak their Catholic identity really is. The controversy in Mexico centred on D&P’s relationship with the Centro PRODH. As reported in these pages this week, the archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, wrote to the Canadian bishops saying that the Centro PRODH supports “activities that are an affront to Christian values.”

Thank you Rose, for the gift of life

June 8, 2011

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birthday of a woman called Rose, of whom I have written in the past. That date, that birthday, that event, however, reminds me to re-tell her story. It starts when she was a teenager in Poland and very much in love with the man she had recently married. Village life had never been easy, but a combination of hard work and God’s grace kept them in one piece. The crops grew, the sun shone and she had just found out that she was pregnant. She was part of a Jewish family that had known darkness and light. But by 1890 it was, said the patriarch of the clan, too dangerous to stay and time to move on. So with tears in their eyes they packed up what little they owned and by cart and foot moved westwards. The journey was hard at first, but soon became agony. As borders were crossed, villages entered and passed, the group of refugees sometimes met charity, sometimes indifference but too often downright hostility. They were stoned in one place. But on they went, knowing that there was no other direction in which to travel. Rose was showing by now, and told the assembled cousins, aunts, uncles and community that she was expecting a baby. Her husband gripped her hand as she shared the good news. Of course they were pleased, they wanted her to know that. But she had to realize that the trip was far from over and that it would be almost impossible for her in a few weeks.

Libya response scrutinized

June 8, 2011

WASHINGTON - NATO’s military campaign against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is giving rise to concerns that the effort’s goals remain unclear and will likely lead to a lengthy standoff between the longtime autocrat and rebel forces with innocent civilians caught in the middle. The concerns revolve around whether the campaign is meant primarily to protect the rebels and their civilian supporters from indiscriminate attacks by troops loyal to Gadhafi or to remove the Libyan leader in the hope that democratic reforms follow. Guiding the discussion is a relatively new concept in international relations characterized as the responsibility to protect — R2P in diplomatic shorthand. The concept, based on ethical concerns, has evolved over the past 20 years following strife-ridden periods in Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in which civilian casualties mounted during internal conflicts as the world stood by idly.

Vatican promotes 1962 missal

June 8, 2011

WASHINGTON - A new Vatican instruction on the extraordinary form of the Mass intends to make it easier for Catholics who want to worship this way to do so. In lay terms, it has eliminated some red tape. For example, in years past, Catholics who wanted to attend the Latin-language liturgy celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal had to request this from their parish priest, who then had to receive permission from the bishop to offer these Masses. Now, according to a Vatican instruction released May 13, pastors do not have to get the local bishop’s permission to approve these Masses for Catholic groups even when these groups are small or formed of people from different parishes or dioceses. The instruction calls on bishops and pastors to respond generously to Catholics who seek to attend this Mass, commonly known as the Tridentine Mass.

Assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian dead at 83

June 8, 2011

WASHINGTON - Dr. Jack Kevorkian, dubbed “Dr. Death” for his longtime advocacy of assisted suicide and his role in assisting in the deaths of 130 people, died June 3 at age 83 in a Detroit-area hospital. The former medical pathologist suffered from kidney-related problems. Dr. Kevorkian was frequently in the spotlight throughout the 1990s, from his first role in an assisted suicide in Michigan in 1990 until 1999 when he was sentenced to serve 10-25 years after being convicted of second-degree murder for assisting in a nationally televised death of a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Released on parole in 2007, Dr. Kevorkian was banned from assisting in suicides or advising anyone on how to make his suicide machine he called the “Mercitron.” He was permitted to speak out in favour of assisted suicide, which he did.

Study shows drug rehab for female inmates works — if they participate

June 8, 2011

TORONTO - A study from researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital has found that female prisoners who did not participate in a drug treatment program after their release were 10 times more likely to return to prison within one year than those who did. Published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the study showed that more than one-third of women who didn’t participate returned to prison within six months, said Flora Matheson, a medical sociologist at St. Michael’s Hospital who led the study. “The good news story is that if we can get women into the program and keep them there, then they have a great chance of success,” said Matheson, a scientist in the hospital’s Centre for Research on Inner City Health who collaborated on the study with the research branch of the Correctional Service of Canada. Researchers examined the Community Relapse Prevention and Maintenance (CRPM) program, developed as part of a continuum of treatment of women offenders under federal supervision in Canada. CRPM is the after-care component of Women Offenders Substance Abuse Programming (WOSAP), which was implemented by Correctional Services Canada in May 2003. The community based program is offered to women on parole.

Prison mission conference coming to Toronto

June 8, 2011

TORONTO - When it began more than 30 years ago, Prison Fellowship International was only a handful of national prison ministries that shared a common vision of sharing Christ with the incarcerated. In 2011, representatives from more than 115 countries who now share that vision will gather in Toronto for the fellowship’s international convocation. From June 28 to July 2, the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel will play host to the ninth quadrennial PFI Convocation, where prison ministers will explore their mission of bringing Christ to prisoners, ex-prisoners, victims and their families. “It’s really a forum for people from various backgrounds, experiences and types of programs to share their stories, their best practices, program models and ideas,” said Ron Nikkel, the president and CEO of PFI. “It becomes a gigantic mixing bowl of creativity and ideas.” PFI, the world’s largest criminal justice ministry with more than 50,000 volunteers, will feature a variety of speakers throughout the five-day conference, including Rev. Pierre Allard, prison chaplain and former president of the International Prison Chaplains’ Association, and Philip Yancey, Christian author and journalist. Participants will also take part in a number of workshops teaching effective practices and leadership skills for use in prison ministry.

World Communications Day targets Internet

June 8, 2011

Forty-five years ago, Pope Paul VI warned the Catholic world of “the vast and complex phenomenon of the modern means of social communication, such as the press, motion pictures, radio and television.” To youth today, this caution may seem comical, yet it bears a striking resemblance to Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 45th World Communications Day, which landed on June 5. This time, however, it’s all about the Internet. “As with every other fruit of human ingenuity, the new communications’ technologies must be placed at the service of the integral good of the individual and of the whole of humanity,” said the Pope. “If used wisely, they can contribute to the satisfaction of the desire for meaning, truth and unity which remain the most profound aspirations of each human being.” In his message, the Pope celebrated the benefits of modern digital communications like social networking and blogging, while heeding their shortcomings. And to youth, who are the most invested in digital communications, he extended a specific invitation to maintain a Catholic identity — even on the web.

Finding the faith in Quebec

June 8, 2011

QUEBEC CITY - In a tourist-haven like Quebec City, even with all its secular distractions, Catholics engaging in their faith are no strangers. Despite the rise of secularism in the province, a trip to Quebec City in May showed that Catholicism is still shining its light in la belle province — you just have to know where to look. The province’s capital city is a great place to start. There are several noteworthy religious attractions in Old Quebec, such as the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral, the Ursuline Convent, the Séminaire de Quebec (Seminary of Quebec) and the Collège Francois-De-Laval. Notre-Dame is located at the centre of the walled city, in the heart of Old Quebec’s tourist zone. Constructed in 1647, Notre-Dame lays claim as the oldest parish in North America. Twice destroyed by flames, the site is rich in history.

Providence’s new CEO gets her ‘Time to Shine’

June 8, 2011

TORONTO - Providence Healthcare has named Josie Walsh its new President and CEO. Walsh has more than 30 years of experience as a registered nurse, with many of those years in hospital management. Walsh joined Providence Healthcare in 2001 as Vice-President and Chief Nurse Executive. She is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. Walsh will be at the helm of Providence Healthcare during the second year of its five-year strategic plan called “Time to Shine.” Walsh said the plan involves “developing strong partnerships to our care hospitals and community care access hospitals.”