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July 2011

July 27

Bishop-elect Christian Lépine on a path he didn’t envision

July 27, 2011

OTTAWA - Montreal auxiliary Bishop-elect Christian Lépine never envisioned becoming a bishop, or even a priest, though as a child he wondered about becoming a saint. Growing up in 1950s Quebec, when the whole province was steeped in the Catholic faith, Lépine recalls kneeling at the age of five with his French-Canadian family every evening and reciting the rosary “like all of Quebec.” He recalls reading the lives of the saints when he was eight. “I was not thinking so much of being a priest, but I was thinking about being a saint,” he joked. The oldest of four brothers and one sister, Lépine remained certain he would marry. It wasn’t until he was 25, sitting in his favorite rocking chair at Christmas, wondering what he was searching for, that he entertained the thought of becoming a priest. “What am I thinking about?” he wondered. By then he had attended the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, pursued an engineering degree at the École Polytechnique in Montreal and, after a year working at an engineering firm, returned to school to study economics and politics. He decided to wait for a couple of months to see if the desire for priesthood remained strong.

St. Patrick’s Street Patrol fights hunger with love

July 27, 2011

TORONTO - On Wednesday, July 13, I participated in Street Patrol, a weekly volunteer program to feed the poor and homeless of downtown Toronto. The initiative, which has run for 16 years, is based out of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and commonly consists of a group of between 20 to 40 youth and adults. Participants gather at the church with sandwiches and other food, and walk through the downtown core, searching for those who could use a meal and a smile. The following is a log of my experience that evening. 4:08 p.m. – I’m standing in front of the Loblaws cheese section, frantically searching for Kraft Singles. I’ve already picked up a loaf of bread and some cold cuts for the sandwiches I’m about to make and give to the poor downtown. But I can’t seem to find the cheese I’m looking for. Provolone it is, then. 4:44 p.m. – After heading home, I begin to put together the sandwiches. Short a couple slices of bread and left only with the ends, I tell myself that I shouldn’t give anything to the homeless that I wouldn’t eat myself. Since I won’t eat those, neither will they. But perhaps my dad will. I sneakily switch them for a couple of slices from another loaf in the kitchen. 5:41 p.m. – I’m back at Loblaws after realizing that I still need paper bags for my “bagged” meals. They only sell them in packs of 100 — I have eight meals. I buy them anyway.

Register reporter wins writing award

July 27, 2011

Associate Editor Michael Swan of The Catholic Register was recently awarded one first-place and two second-place prizes for outstanding writing at the annual awards banquet of The Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. In total, The Register won five awards in the North American wide competition of Catholic newspapers. Those honours follow the 14 awards, including best religious newspaper in Canada, The Register won earlier this year at the Canadian Church Press awards ceremony. Swan’s first-place prize was in the category of Best Personality Profile for a front-page feature titled “Deacon Judge Rules with Conviction.” [read article here] It explored how Alf Stong, a deacon in the Church, relies on his Catholic values in adjudicating the law.

Church entities apologize for adoptions

July 27, 2011

SYDNEY - Three Catholic entities in Australia apologized “with a deep sense of regret and heartfelt sorrow” over forced adoption practices involving thousands of single mothers that occurred in past decades. The practices involved separating unmarried mothers from their newborn babies immediately after birth and handing them to adoption agencies. The apology came jointly from Catholic Health Australia, the largest nongovernment provider of health, community and elder care services in Australia, the Sisters of Mercy and the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, about 100 miles north of Sydney. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said in a story on its website that the apology was prompted by the news agency’s investigation into claims of abuse and trauma in Newcastle. The story said it was believed that at least 150,000 Australian women had their babies taken against their will by some churches and adoption agencies.

Busy schedule awaits Pope in Germany

July 27, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will address the German parliament, meet with Jewish and Muslim groups, hold a prayer vigil with youths and celebrate Mass in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium during his Sept. 22-25 visit to his homeland. It’s a heavy schedule for the 84-year-old pope, who will preside over 28 events and deliver 17 talks during the visit. It will be his third trip to Germany since his election in 2005, but his first visit to Berlin, the German capital. After landing in Berlin Sept. 22, the Pope will meet with government leaders, give a major speech to the federal parliament, meet with Jewish representatives and then celebrate an evening Mass in the Olympic Stadium — the facility Adolf Hitler had built for the 1936 Summer Games.

Novalis marks 75-year association with Saint Paul U.

July 27, 2011

OTTAWA - Novalis Publishing celebrated its 75th anniversary at Ottawa’s Saint Paul University July 7 at a reception to honour its authors, editors and past and present staff. Novalis began in 1936 when Oblate Father André Guay, who founded the Catholic Centre at the University of Ottawa, began publishing pamphlets to help ordinary Catholics better understand their faith in a post-Depression era. “No organization can achieve the kind of success Novalis has had in 75 years without truly caring and committed people,” said Novalis’ publishing director Joseph Sinasac. “From André Guay until now, Novalis benefited from a tremendous amount of wisdom, of passion, of talent, of devotion from its staff writers, editors and many, many friendly collaborators.” Guay recognized the way ordinary Catholics lacked an understanding of their faith, said Celebrate Magazine editor Bernadette Gasslein.

Alberta mission diocese is on the move

July 27, 2011

McLENNAN, Alta. - The archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan plans to move its offices from the town of McLennan into Grande Prairie. The move is motivated primarily by transportation and staffing needs, says Archbishop Gerard Pettipas. “In spite of the cordial welcome and genuine support I have enjoyed in McLennan since becoming archbishop, I have become increasingly aware that this is not the most suitable location for me and the chancery offices at this point in our history,” the archbishop says in a recent letter to Catholics in the northwestern Alberta diocese. “I have thus began to look seriously at a move to Grande Prairie, which provides the only air transportation by national carriers within the archdiocese, as well as a suitable large population base from which to hire office staff.” McLennan is a small agricultural community of about 825 people.

Province will respect Catholic rights: Dombrowsky

July 27, 2011

TORONTO - The right of Catholic schools to remain faithful to Catholic teaching on matters of marriage and sexuality will be respected under Ontario’s new equity and inclusive education policy, says Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky. “There’s no question that in Catholic schools, they have the constitutional right to teach their faith in their schools and that has not changed,” Dombrowsky told The Catholic Register. But Dombrowsky also said all school boards will be required to provide support groups for gay students. “We’ve made that very clear as a government,” she said. “It’s not an option for school boards on whether or not they will have a group to support students dealing with issues around sexual orientation.” Although such support groups are often called gay-straight alliances, Dombrowsky said Catholic schools are not required to use that name. There has been considerable objection to importing the gay-straight alliance terminology because of concerns that the name implies acceptance of the gay lifestyle.

Timmins bishop dies unexpectedly on vacation

July 27, 2011

TORONTO - Bishop Paul Marchand, S.S.M., of the Diocese of Timmins, Ont. died of natural causes on July 23 while on summer vacation. A “humble” priest with a collaborative pastoral approach, Bishop Marchand headed the Diocese of Timmins at a challenging time of declining numbers of parishioners and priests in the community. “He was a very collaborative-oriented person. He really believed in the role and responsibility of the laity,” said Fr. Pat Lafleur, rector of Timmins' St. Anthony of Padua Cathedral. “He was in a difficult position because we have a shortage of priests up here that is rather pronounced,” he added. There are currently about 14 priests, at least half of whom are from outside the diocese, Lafleur said. During his tenure, Marchand had to make difficult decisions such as closing five parishes because many residents were moving out of the community and there was a decline in church attendance and vocations to the priesthood.

July 28

Pope's visit prompted new abuse allegations in Britain, church reports

July 28, 2011

MANCHESTER, England - The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain and Scotland in September prompted a wave of fresh allegations of historical clerical sexual abuse, church child protection officials said. Allegations of sexual and physical abuse against priests, religious men and women, church employees, volunteers and parishioners more than doubled in 2010 compared with the previous year, according to figures released July 28 in the 2010-11 annual report of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. The commission is the agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales that oversees child protection programs. In all, 92 allegations of sexual and physical abuse were received in 2010 compared with 43 in 2009 and 51 in 2008. Exactly half of the allegations were dismissed after investigations by law enforcement authorities and 41 remain under investigation, the report said. One resulted in a police warning, two in continuing court hearings and two in prison sentences, according to the report.

Urgent appeal for help goes out as famine devastates East Africa

July 28, 2011

OTTAWA - Canadians are being urged to donate money to help feed 11 million people in the Horn of Africa who face possible starvation as drought and famine ravage the area. The region, which includes Somali, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and the new Republic of South Sudan, is experiencing the worst drought in 60 years. Somalia’s been hardest hit and refugees are pouring into neighboring Kenya where one camp, designed to hold 90,000 people has swelled to more than 400,000. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) is one of several charities that have been designated as qualified agencies under a federal government fund-matching program. Every dollar donated to D&P for African relief by Sept. 16 will be matched by Ottawa. “I saw a true humanitarian crisis at Dadaab,” said Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda, who recently visited Somalia. “The stories of how the women and children struggled to reach the camp are incredible. Their perseverance and courage must be matched by our willingness to help.”

July 30

Charities still reeling from postal strike

July 30, 2011

TORONTO - “No snail mail: Who cares?” read a newspaper headline on the morning of June 3, when Canada Post began its rotating postal strikes. It may have been a sentiment shared by many Canadians, but certainly not by registered charities. For them, it was a “nightmare,” according to Jim Hughes, president of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), a pro-life charity that simply wouldn’t be able to operate without mail donations. “We rely upon donations of up to $5,000 a day in order to keep our doors open,” said Hughes, adding that, conservatively, CLC lost $75,000 worth of donations as a result of the strike. Donations that weren’t sent in June were not made once postal workers were sent back to work on June 27, he said. Instead of having regular contributors “double up” their gifts, the donations were simply lost.

July 31

50 years of Jesuit joy for Prendergast

July 31, 2011

OTTAWA - When Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast left Montreal for Toronto on Aug. 13, 1961 to begin his novitiate in the Society of Jesus, he admitted shedding some tears aboard the overnight train. “I think it was just leaving my parents and my friends,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be back for some time.” But he awoke the next morning to a new adventure and a sense of joy that has accompanied him, with a few exceptions, ever since.His life as a Jesuit has taken him from Toronto to Montreal, on to Halifax, Regina and Ottawa with sabbaticals in Rome and Jerusalem. A Scripture scholar, he has moved from teaching high school students to teaching university students and seminarians in Toronto, Halifax and Regina, and to teaching the faithful at large in the episcopacy, first in Toronto as an auxiliary bishop, then to Halifax and Ottawa as archbishop. “My life has been very happy,” he said. “Even with a few crisis places, basically it’s been happiness every day.”