Browse › 2011 › June

June 2011

June 22

Embryos are sacred too

June 22, 2011

Life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death. Often, the media discusses moral issues related to death, such as situations concerning consent to “pull the plug” on life-support or individuals committing suicide. Through recent advances in medicine, scientists have developed reproductive techniques to artificially create human embryos. One such method is therapeutic cloning, where scientists artificially produce embryos to study various diseases and ailments to assist them in finding cures for disease. Scientists can create as many ‘models’ as they please for their research, and if some embryos die in the experiment, other viable human embryos are generated. Therefore, although therapeutic cloning provides opportunities to find cures, there are obvious ethical repercussions for Catholics. Every child is a unique gift from God, and it is immoral for humans to have the right to produce, let alone destroy, embryos for medical research. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the immorality behind producing artificial embryos: “The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that ‘entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.” Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children, says The Catechism.

AA has a healing mission

June 22, 2011

The only requirement to join Alcoholics Anonymous is a desire for sobriety – and maybe a belief in God. Two Toronto AA groups were recently removed from the organization’s official directory for altering the Twelve Steps, a traditional set of guidelines to battle addiction created by AA founder Bill Wilson. The two non-religious groups, Beyond Belief and We Agnostics, removed all mention of God or a higher power from the steps and, as a result, are no longer affiliated with AA. While sympathetic with the decision to delist the two organizations, many supporters of the 12-step program caution against letting this debate interfere with the healing mission of AA. Sr. Miriam Ukeritis, CSJ, the chief executive director of Southdown Institute, a mental health centre for Catholic clergy, many of whom are dealing with addictions, said that, while her organization uses the Catholic faith to help battle addictions, they “don’t go on the belief that if you pray, all your troubles go away.”

Student trustees endorse gay-straight alliance

June 22, 2011

Toronto Catholic student trustees are calling for the establishment of gay-straight alliances and “anti-homophobia education” in Catholic schools. In a report tabled at the June 16 meeting of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, student trustee Natalie Rizzo recommended implementation of an “inclusion and belonging week” in September. Rizzo said anti-homophobia education “is not sex education” and recommended it for all religion classes in elementary and high school. The report, prepared by the TCDSB Catholic Student Leadership Impact Team, said that anti-homophobia education is in keeping with a mandate in Catholic education “to promote equality, democracy, solidarity, for a just, peaceful and compassionate society.” It also said anti-homophobia education would create a safe learning environment for all students. In May the TCDSB passed an equity and inclusive education policy that included provisions against discrimination based on sexual orientation and said all types of social or cultural discrimination was unacceptable in its schools. Amendments have been proposed to that policy that would place even greater emphasis on the right of Catholic schools to operate according to Catholic religious beliefs.

Literacy test score success

June 22, 2011

All Toronto area Catholic School boards managed average or better than average pass rates on province-wide standardized literacy tests this year. Students in the York Catholic and Dufferin-Peel Catholic board scored above the provincial average of 83 per cent. Eighty-eight per cent of Grade 10 YCDSB students who wrote the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test for the first time were successful. Also, more students with special education needs wrote the test compared to last year and the students experienced a five per cent increase in achievement. “Our test scores continue to be among the highest in the province and this is something we are proud of,” said Elizabeth Crowe, chair of the YCDSB. “However, at the heart of those scores is the great teaching and learning happening in our schools. Our schools are clearly engaged, vibrant hubs of activity, focused on student achievement.” At the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, 85 per cent of DPCDSB students were successful. This is the fifth year in a row that Dufferin-Peel Catholic District Students exceeded the provincial average.

Eritrean Catholics caught in Libyan civil war flee to Canada

June 22, 2011

Salamawit Mehari tells the story of her cousin, Nardos Haile, who tried to make the desperate voyage from Libya to Italy with her three children. As the boat began to disintegrate in the Mediterranean and her husband turned to help neighbours, Haile held tight to her 16-month-old — and watched helplessly as her four-year-old and six-year-old were swept overboard. At Toronto’s St. Nicholas of Bari parish, a new community of Eritreans are mourning friends lost to the Mediterranean. Wedlep Habtemical thinks he knows 20 who died at sea. Goitom Abrha recalls 25. Selam Tesfaselasy remembers 14 members of her church choir. These refugees are part of a growing group of Eritreans caught in the Libyan civil war who have made their way to Canada. The tiny Toronto Eritrean Catholic Community of St. Nicholas Bari, under Capuchin Fr. Vittorio Boria, is supporting 35 refugee sponsorships through co-sponsorship and doing its best to help new arrivals settle and focus on their futures. To be a refugee in Libya is its own circle of hell. Add in a civil war and it gets worse.

NDP Catholic MPs stress their social Gospel roots

June 22, 2011

OTTAWA - The NDP passed a number of resolutions at its 2011 policy convention that could appeal to voters who care about social justice, say two of the party’s Catholic MPs. “I think there’s so much of the NDP that was founded in the social Gospel,” said NDP MP Charlie Angus, now the Official Opposition ethics critic. “People think we came out of labour, but we came out of the churches as well, the fight for social justice.” The NDP wound up its convention in Vancouver June 17-19 fresh off an historic win in May that saw the party shoot past the Liberals to become the Official Opposition. Despite the NDP’s support for abortion and same-sex marriage, Angus contends there’s a lot for Catholic voters to like about his party. In every speech, NDP Leader Jack Layton talks about a Canada where “no one is left behind,” said Angus, who represents the Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay. “I think that’s something that people in the pews understand in their heart. They know we are in a very rich country, but something’s not working.”

Catholic schools must hold true to teachings

June 22, 2011

It’s certainly open season on Catholic schools in this country. Not because Catholic schools provide poor education, fail to care for their students, or teach immorality, but because they don’t quite obey establishment wisdom on — wait for it — homosexuality. It is truly staggering how this subject of limited importance, concerning a tiny percentage of the population, should take up so much time and space, and be the catalyst for so much political extremism. The Catholic position is simple. And, forgive us, by a strange coincidence it happens to be Catholic. Sin and sinners are two different things. We are more than our mere sexuality, and gay people are deserving of respect, dignity, and love because they are made in the image of God. They are no more to be liked or disliked because they are homosexual than others are to be liked or disliked because they are heterosexual.That they should not be bullied is a self-evident truth, and if a gay child was bullied in a Catholic school the perpetrators would be punished. Bullying is wrong, not because of the nature of the victim but the nature of the crime. The problem with specific anti-bullying programs in Catholic schools around the issue of homosexuality, such as the so-called gay-straight alliances, is that they contain implicit and often explicit social platforms. Namely, that it is not enough to condemn bullying; it is essential to affirm homosexuality. This cannot be so, because it runs contrary to Catholic teaching.

Back on track with Covenant House

June 22, 2011

Like many young people, Thomas has been spending most of his recent time preparing for high-school exams, playing basketball with friends and following the end of the NHL season. That’s a long way from where he was a few weeks ago — unsure each night if he’d have a bed to sleep in. Orphaned at six years old, Thomas has moved from foster home to foster home. As he got older, he spent some time couch-surfing from one friend’s place to the next. Eventually he got his own apartment, sharing rent with his younger brother and a friend. But the other two walked out on the deal, leaving Thomas with a lease he couldn’t afford and no family to support him. So how did Thomas go from near homelessness to becoming a typical teenager? It began when he was directed to Covenant House Toronto. Thomas knew about Covenant House, but hadn’t considered it an option until it was recommended by a social worker from the Catholic Children’s Aid Society.

Robert Brehl: Kate and Wills should feel at home in PEI

June 22, 2011

The upcoming royal tour by Prince William and his new bride Kate is sure to be an exciting spectacle for Canadians, monarchists and non-monarchists alike. This young and vibrant couple has energized the increasingly stodgy royal family, and Canadians are eager to get an up-close glimpse. Our family will be in Prince Edward Island when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive there July 3. My wife and 12-year-old daughter have already mapped out their “stalking route” to see the royals. I predict the royal couple will find the tiny island, which is half Catholic, to be the most unique place on their tour. Nothing against Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, but they’re cities — all with at least five times more people than the entire population of PEI. Urban areas are nothing new to this royal couple. But PEI is different, even a little quirky. And that’s what we love about the place and why we bought a cottage there. Take honesty, for instance. Two years ago, PEI honesty made international headlines after a gust of wind knocked a $10,300 bag of cash out of the hand of a rental property owner on his way to the bank. Cars stopped. People jumped out of Charlottetown restaurants and stores. Everyone scurried to the street to collect the money. But no one pocketed a thing. Every last dollar was returned to the fellow. How’s that for honesty?

Family justice centre set to open this fall

June 22, 2011

When a family member faces a crisis, the last thing they want is to be denied service because no one speaks their language, no one can care for their child, or the help they need is on the other side of the city. When the Family Justice and Child Advocacy (FJCA) Centre opens in Brampton, Ont., later this summer, families in distress will no longer face these obstacles. The centre, run by Catholic Family Services Peel-Dufferin (CFSPD), will house more than a dozen different services — from youth and women’s counselling to legal aid and law enforcement — in a variety of languages. “We’re not going to just be working together under one roof, our services are going to be coordinated together,” said Shelina Jeshani, coordinator of the FJCA planning committee. The goal of the centre, which opens Sept. 1, is to provide seamless, hassle-free service for abuse victims, families, couples and others in need.

Fathers are guardians of the family and Church

June 22, 2011

TORONTO - Lukasz Petrykowski is a Catholic apologist and lawyer who worries about the type of world his two boys will face when someday they become husbands and fathers. Being a dad in the 21st century is like fighting a cultural battle against the gradual feminization of men in society, he says. He believes fatherhood is at a crossroads that threatens families as we know them today. Petrykowski calls this a crisis of fatherhood. It stems from a gender debate about whether gender is merely “social construction” or is a God-given biological reality. Radical, feminist thinking suggests it is the former, a notion Petrykowski refutes. He doesn’t subscribe to what he calls the “metrosexual myth.” The so-called metrosexual man is concerned with fashion and appearance, and incorporates a feminine nature to his masculinity which can include wearing makeup, nail polish and other beauty adornments previously only seen on women. Petrykowski and other Catholic dads say a way to address this crisis is through their Catholic faith and by holding steadfast to the traditional notion of fathers and husbands as guardians of the family and the Church.

KAIROS calls on government to implement UN declaration

June 22, 2011

OTTAWA - Hundreds of people from across Canada joined indigenous and church leaders June 20 in a colorful march through downtown Ottawa, displaying hand-painted banners urging Ottawa to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Organized by KAIROS, an ecumenical, church-based social justice organization, the marchers called for concrete action to address the poverty and inequality faced by indigenous peoples. “It’s clear that Canadians want action on indigenous rights and on the Declaration,” said KAIROS executive director Mary Corkery. Anglican National Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald said the UNDRIP provided an “urgent challenge and opportunity” to Canada in how it “applies basic human rights to the unique situation of indigenous peoples.”The document provides the “tools” to address some of the misery caused by Canada’s past relations with them, he said.

Men and women parent differently: sociologist

June 22, 2011

OTTAWA - Children yearn to have a close relationship with their biological parents and they thrive when they are raised by their own mom and dad, an American sociologist told a family conference. Contrary to popular belief, the gender of parents is relevant to a child’s outcomes in life, he said. “Everything I have to say would have been common sense to my grandma,” Brad Wilcox from the University of Virginia told the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada annual conference. “Now we have elaborate social science to prove grandma was right.” Wilcox, a marriage and cohabitation researcher, said children do best when both parents participate in child rearing. He describes that as a counter-cultural and sometimes controversial statement in a society that endorses several different parenting models.

June 24

Cancer claims life of TCDSB spokesperson after two-year battle

June 24, 2011

TORONTO - Beloved mother, friend and “passionate advocate for Catholic education,” Toronto Catholic District School Board spokesperson Mary Jo Deighan died peacefully with her family by her side at Mississauga's Trillium Health Centre on June 17. Mrs. Deighan, 54, battled cancer on and off for the last two years. Neil MacCarthy, spokesperson for the archdiocese of Toronto, said in an online post that he admired Mrs. Deighan's courage in battling cancer. This came at a challenging time for her and the board. As spokesperson, she fielded tough calls after the board was taken over by the province in 2008. “During difficult days for the TCDSB, Mary Jo battled not only complex communication issues but her own personal health challenges yet always had time for colleagues and maintained a watching brief on issues as long as was possible,” wrote MacCarthy. “I can still recall with embarrassment reaching her by cellphone on an 'urgent' matter only to learn that she was in the midst of a chemotherapy treatment, IV in arm and cheerfully reassuring me that it was no problem to call as her treatments went on for the better part of the day and it was an opportunity to catch up on phone calls and e-mails,” McCarthy recalled. He said Mrs. Deighan approached her role as a ministry.

Pope calls for aid to those fleeing North Africa, Middle East conflicts

June 24, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called for emergency assistance to thousands of people fleeing the violence and civil strife in North Africa and the Middle East, and he appealed to nations to explore "every possible form of mediation" to bring an end to the conflicts. He asked the Vatican's coordinating body of church funding agencies for Eastern Catholic churches to "do everything possible" to help the minority Christian populations remain in the region. The pope's appeal came during a meeting June 24 with the Vatican coordinating body, known by its Italian acronym ROACO. The ROACO assembly was holding its annual general meeting at the Vatican. Participants were discussing the changes taking place in North Africa and the Middle East as well as how bishops were following up on the special Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in 2010.

June 25

Youth poet “shows the love”

June 25, 2011

Henrick Sales had butterflies as he approached the mic. A Catholic in a synagogue, and younger than most in attendance, he probably felt a little out of place as he took the stage. But as soon as the 19-year-old opened his mouth and began to speak, the nervousness disappeared. Sales, or ‘Shoolie’ as he’s known in the world of spoken word, was one of more than 200 people to send a submission to the 10th Annual Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless and Marginalized, organized by Jewish charity Ve’ahavta. On June 12, at Toronto’s Congregation Habonim, he delivered “I Am,” an original poem that won second place in the competition. “It’s a poem about people who face hardship, like friends and people I know and their struggle with homelessness,” said Sales. “They’re actually just like us, they’re just not as fortunate as us and that makes a lot of difference.”

Toronto trustee apologizes for "insensitive" remarks about undocumented immigrants

June 25, 2011

TORONTO - Toronto Catholic school trustee Frank D'Amico has apologized for "insensitive" remarks he made concerning a family of undocumented immigrants trying to enroll a child in a Catholic school, and assured people that the Toronto Catholic District School Board does not turn away students because of their parents' immigration status. The embattled trustee made the remark in response to calls from immigrant advocacy groups to make him an "example" of a "zero-tolerance policy (against) racism'" at the TCDSB during a June 23 special board meeting. "I sincerely regret the recent statements that have been reported in the media. They were insensitive and the comments reported do not reflect the Toronto Catholic District School Board policies on the admission of students," D'Amico told the audience in a prepared statement. Social Planning Toronto raised its concerns at the meeting regarding an e-mail D'Amico wrote about undocumented students. Social Planning Toronto is a non-profit advocacy and research group of 150 community organizations and includes Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto,

June 26

Spirituality on display at Caravaggio exhibit

June 26, 2011

OTTAWA - As Caravaggio’s personal life unravelled, his paintings became more deeply spiritual, perhaps due to his need for mercy, says an art historian and expert on the 17th century Italian master. The more sorrow he experienced, the more spiritual his work became, said University of Vienna art historian Sebastian Schütze at a June 15 preview of the National Art Gallery’s international loan exhibition Caravaggio and His Friends in Rome that will be in Ottawa until Sept. 11. As the hot-tempered artist became “the bad boy on the run” after having killed someone in a duel, his work became richer and more reflective and less inclined to show off his technical virtuosity Schütze said. The painting that closes the exhibit, St. Francis contemplating a skull, was painted around the time that the artist fled from Rome, and shows a deep sense of spiritual reflection. The artist’s short life did not reflect a one-on-one correspondence between a virtuous life and great art, but 400 years after his death at the age of 38 in 1610, Caravaggio remains one of the greatest painters of all time and the most topical of the great masters today, said Schütze.

June 27

Hybrid eyed as pope's next vehicle, papal spokesman says

June 27, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will be traveling in greener style in the future when a project for a new hybrid popemobile gets off the drawing boards and on to the road, a papal spokesman said. Mercedes-Benz is making plans for an energy-saving papal vehicle that could be used at home or abroad, said Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office. On papal trips, Pope Benedict is usually driven in a white Mercedes with bullet-proof glass that allows him to sit and wave at the crowds from the back. Vatican officials said late last year that the pope, who has said he is committed to saving energy at the Vatican, would welcome an electric vehicle as a symbol of his support for measures that promote energy sustainability.

Rights league stands behind fired sports anchor

June 27, 2011

TORONTO - The Catholic Civil Rights League is standing by the human rights appeal of Damian Goddard, a sports anchor fired for his Catholic views on traditional marriage. Goddard, a former host of Connected on Rogers Sportsnet, plans to file a human rights complaint against his former employer, Rogers Communication Inc. “Mr. Goddard’s case typifies a theme we hear all too often in other, lower-profile cases of workplace discrimination against people who do not support same-sex marriage on religious grounds,” said Joanne McGarry, league executive director. “We hope Damian’s case will establish that freedom of religion and conscience, protected by the Civil Marriage Act of 2005, were meant to be given a robust interpretation.” Goddard posted comments in early May on his Twitter account supporting Burlington, Ont., hockey agent Todd Reynolds for criticizing the New York Rangers' Sean Avery who appeared in a TV ad for Human Right's Campaign's "New Yorkers for Marriage Equality Campaign" in support of same-sex marriage. (New York legalized same-sex marriage on June 24.)