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August 2011

August 15

Welfare payments via debit card welcomed

August 15, 2011

TORONTO - When the City of Toronto stops sending out welfare cheques over the coming winter it could be a very good thing, maybe something worth expanding to the entire province, said Catholic observers of the welfare system. Instead of welfare cheques, the city intends to issue debit cards to Torontonians on Ontario Works. While 65,000 Toronto recipients already receive welfare payments via direct deposit into their bank accounts, there are still about 35,000, most without bank accounts, who receive cheques. "(The debit card plan) doesn't seem to degrade anybody's dignity or anything like that. It sounds like a good idea," said Bishop John Pazak, chair of the social affairs commission of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario. For many cheque recipients the only way to turn the cheque into spendable cash has been to frequent payday loan companies that charge hefty fees for cashing a cheque. Money Mart charges $2.99 per cheque, plus three per cent of its value. The Cash Store, which operates 574 Cash Store and Instaloan branches across Canada, reported third quarter profits of $1.15 million as of June 30 on quarterly revenue of $49.7 million. The company's profits were down because of a $3 million class-action payout. The courts ruled brokerage fees charged by the payday loan company pushed interest rates above the legal limit.

Pilgrims discover Spanish culture in Toledo cathedral

August 15, 2011

TOLEDO, Spain - World Youth Day pilgrims who wanted to dip a toe in Spain's rich and deep Christian history discovered the Cathedral of St. Mary of Toledo was not a bad place to start. "I am a homebody who rarely travels, but when I saw the cathedral I was utterly amazed not only at the Spanish history but our own history -- a glimpse at where we come from and how important our history is," said Gino Galley, 24, a seminarian in the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif. He marveled at an enormous gold monstrance and the many murals, including a heavenly scene by artist Luca Giordano, seen overhead in the sacristy. Of special interest was a collection of the Toledo-born El Greco's early religious paintings not normally open to the public. Many artworks were made visible to the public in time for World Youth Day, including those at the13th-century Gothic church that some consider the Gothic masterpiece church in all of Spain.

Earthly affairs can wait; things of God demand action now, pope says

August 15, 2011

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - Temporal things can wait; only the things of God merit acting upon without hesitation, Pope Benedict XVI said. God's words and his will are the only things "that are truly urgent for our lives," he said. Celebrating an early morning Mass Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the pope reflected on the reading from the Gospel of Luke in which Mary visits Elizabeth "in haste" after the angel Gabriel announced to Mary God's plan that she conceive the son of God. Mary's sense of haste is important, the pope said, because it shows "the only things in the world that merit haste are exactly the things of God." Pope Benedict celebrated the Mass in the parish Church of St. Thomas, just across the main square from the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo. Those attending the Mass in the small church included retired Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and the pope's brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.

Brother of slain Pakistani minister disputes family feud theory

August 15, 2011

BANGALORE, India (CNS) -- The brother of assassinated Catholic government minister Shahbaz Bhatti has joined Christians in rejecting the idea that family and property disputes were behind the March assassination. "This is just nonsense," Paul Bhatti, special adviser on minorities to the Pakistan government, told Catholic News Service Aug. 15 from Islamabad, Pakistan. The assassination of 42-year old Shahbaz Bhatti, who was ambushed and sprayed with bullets while being driven to his office in Islamabad, has drawn worldwide condemnation, including from Pope Benedict XVI. Paul Bhatti spoke to CNS about a leaked news report that absolved Islamic extremists for his brother's assassination.

Some may protest, but young will welcome pope in Spain, spokesman says

August 15, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Protests planned against Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Madrid Aug. 18-21 are "not worrying or surprising" to the Vatican, particularly because "there are hundreds of thousands of young people who will be happy to welcome the pope," the Vatican spokesman said. Groups opposed to government and church spending for the pope's visit have planned a protest Aug. 16, the opening day of World Youth Day. Briefing reporters Aug. 12 about the papal trip, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said, "It seems to me that before every papal trip there are demonstrations by people who have a different opinion and use the occasion to express their problems or concerns .... It's part of life in a democratic country." Father Lombardi also acknowledged the failure of efforts to keep the location of the next World Youth Day secret until Pope Benedict announces it at the final Mass Aug. 21.

August 16

Archbishop Burke turned aside a hockey career for the priesthood

August 16, 2011

Archbishop emeritus Austin-Emile Burke passed up a promising career pursuing the Canadian dream in the National Hockey League to take a shot at another goal: to become a priest. Archbishop Burke died peacefully on Aug. 12 at Evans Hall, Parkstone Enhanced Care. He was 89. In his 61 years of priesthood, including 23 years as bishop of Yarmouth, where he was born, Archbishop Burke far exceeded his goals, says Halifax Archbishop Anthony Mancini. Archbishop Burke's pastoral approach endeared him to parishioners during his years in Yarmouth, Mancini said. “He was one of their own, very much appreciated by the people there,” said Mancini. “He was like a native son,” referring not only to Archbishop Burke's pastoral ministry but also his Acadian heritage.

August 17

Abuse payouts put Dublin archdiocese on brink of financial collapse

August 17, 2011

DUBLIN - The Dublin archdiocese is on the brink of financial collapse because of payouts to victims of clergy sexual abuse, according to an internal report. The report — prepared by the diocesan Council of Priests and obtained by The Irish Catholic newspaper — said that "reserves the diocese had built up over decades have been spent on seeking to compensate, somewhat, victims of child sexual abuse by priests." So far, 172 civil actions from people alleging abuse have been taken against 44 priests of the Dublin archdiocese; 117 have been concluded and 55 are ongoing. The costs, so far, to the archdiocese for settlement of claims regarding child sexual abuse by priests is currently at 13.5 million euros ($20 million) — 9.3 million euros in settlements and 4.2 million euros in legal costs for both sides. "This means the diocese will have to go into debt for a considerable period and will not have resources for other projects unless we fundraise for them specifically," the document added.

Don’t conform to the world

August 17, 2011

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Aug. 28 (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27) Most of the biblical prophets were less than thrilled with their calling from God and Jeremiah was probably the most reluctant of the lot. Upon being called he offered a barrage of excuses, but God was unmoved. A call is a call, and if it is from God the necessary strength and inspiration will be given. Jeremiah had a particularly difficult assignment: he was to prophesy to the nation about the Assyrian and then the Babylonian threat with a ringing call to repentance and rejection of idolatry. But his exhortations and warnings fell on deaf ears. Those in power were surrounded by professional court prophets whose specialty was telling the rulers what they wanted to hear. This is a danger for all who are in positions of power and authority. Their message usually consisted of soothing reassurances that all was well and nothing more was needed to ensure the safety of the nation. No one had time or patience for Jeremiah’s apparent doom and gloom predictions. He would suffer a lifetime of ridicule, rejection, physical abuse, imprisonment and even an attempt on his life. He lived to see his terrible predictions come to pass as the temple and city were destroyed.

CCCB to launch web site for new missal

August 17, 2011

OTTAWA - A new web site for the Canadian edition of the Roman Missal will help Catholics across Canada to understand the contents of the new book. The web site can be found at www.romanmissal.ca. Available this fall, the web site includes resources for preparing parish bulletins and workshops. It also has links to Roman Missal-related materials from the National Liturgy Office and the Publications Service of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, who will be producing the missal. Also, parishioners can access the web sites of Catholic dioceses across Canada concerning the Roman Missal as well as links from the Vatican and English-speaking conferences of bishops around the world.

At opening Mass, WYD pilgrims begin 'days you will never forget'

August 17, 2011

MADRID - A cloudless blue sky turned to inky night as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims participated in the opening Mass for World Youth Day, celebrated by Madrid Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela in the Plaza de Cibeles. Protected from the heat by white umbrellas and streams of soft mists, dozens of bishops and priests gathered on and around the makeshift altar to celebrate the Mass for pilgrims representing their homeland with flags, special hats, T-shirts and banners. In his homily, Rouco said World Youth Day is inseparable from Blessed John Paul II, "the pope of the young," whose memory they celebrated with the Mass. The relationship Blessed John Paul had with the young was "unprecedented," he said "a hitherto unknown relationship between the Church and her young: direct, immediate ... imbued with a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, enthusiastic, hopeful, joyful, contagious." This tradition has continued with Pope Benedict XVI, he said, who did not hesitate to highlight Blessed John Paul's love of the young in his homily for his predecessor's beatification in May.

Stop, listen, reflect on what God is trying to tell you, pope says

August 17, 2011

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - Most people don't leave any time in their day to stop, listen and reflect on what God is doing and saying in their lives, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Our time is taken up by so many activities, commitments, worries and problems that often one tends to fill up one's whole day without having a second left for stopping to reflect and nourish one's spiritual life" by having contact with God, he said Aug. 17 as he held his weekly general audience in the courtyard of the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo. The pope continued his series of talks on prayer by focusing on meditation and the role it plays in a Christian life. He said it is essential to consistently find a moment every day to be able to "collect our thoughts in silence and meditate on what the Lord wants to teach us, since he is present and acts in the world and our lives."

August 18

CWL vows to tackle destruction of embryos

August 18, 2011

TORONTO - Toronto hosted 620 delegates of the Catholic Women’s League from Aug. 14 to 17 as they gathered for the 91st annual CWL National Convention, themed “Centred on Faith & Justice.” The four-day conference, held at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel, presented four new resolutions that will be initiatives of the League in the coming year. The resolutions include prohibiting practices involving the destruction or manipulation of human embryos, providing support for children of missing and murdered aboriginal women, creating a national organ and tissue donation and transplantation registry, and mandating caffeine warning labels on energy drinks. The resolutions were chosen from a group of more than a dozen proposals that had risen through the diocesan and provincial councils to the national level from parishes across the country.

On plane to Madrid, pope says WYD refreshes, strengthens the young

August 18, 2011

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO MADRID - Pope Benedict XVI described the World Youth Day celebrations as a "waterfall of light" that refreshes, nourishes and strengthens young Catholics and, therefore, can bring hope to the world. Responding to four questions during the flight from Rome to Madrid Aug. 18, the pope told reporters that Blessed John Paul II was inspired when he instituted World Youth Day, and the celebration has brought much good to the church and the world, even if the results aren't always evident immediately. "God sows silently, and the seeds he plants don't show up right away in statistics," the pope said. It's like the parable where some of the seeds fall on the road and just dry out, while others fall among weeds and struggle, and others fall on fertile ground and flourish, he said as he prepared to join hundreds of thousands of young people in Spain Aug. 18-21. Obviously, he said, some of the seeds sown during World Youth Day "will be lost, but that is human." However, he said, he was confident most of the seeds, especially the seeds of "friendship with God and friendships with others," would continue to grow.

Pope says listening to, praying with young is a great joy

August 18, 2011

MADRID - Listening to and praying with energetic young Catholics is a joy, Pope Benedict XVI told the king of Spain. "I have come here to meet thousands of young people from all over the world, Catholics committed to Christ, searching for the truth that will give real meaning to their existence," the pope told King Juan Carlos Aug. 18 at Madrid's Barajas airport. The king, walking with a crutch, and Queen Sofia welcomed the pope, as did 50 Spanish boys and young men dressed as Swiss Guards to make the pope feel at home. Pope Benedict told the royal family, Spanish bishops and dignitaries at the airport that joining hundreds of thousands of young people at World Youth Day was the motive for his third papal trip to Spain and his 20th trip outside of Italy since becoming pope in 2005. Many participants at the youth gathering "have heard the voice of God, perhaps only as a little whisper, which has led them to search for him more diligently and to share with others the experience of the force which he has in their lives," the pope said.

5,000 Canadian pilgrims unite to open World Youth Day

August 18, 2011

MADRID, SPAIN - Fr. Rob Galea brought a crowd of about 5,000 pilgrims to their feet at the gathering of Canadians here Aug. 16, the opening day of World Youth Day. Galea, a newly ordained priest and singer, serenaded the thousands with Taio Cruz's hit pop song, "Dynamite," along with a song he wrote about finding his vocation. The audience responded by waving its many flags, singing along and cheering. What will young people do with their lives? "Jesus is telling you to jump and He'll catch you right before you hit the ground," Galea told those gathered. "We only live life to the fullest if we live the will of God." The gathering of Canadian pilgrims was hosted at Palacio de Desportes, which is acting as the Love and Life Centre — a home for English-speaking pilgrims in Madrid. The Love and Life Centre is co-hosted by the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters for Life. Fr. Thomas Rosica, CEO of Salt + Light Television, was the event organizer.

Youths welcome pope to WYD; he asks them to think about faith

August 18, 2011

MADRID - Formally welcomed to World Youth Day by a boisterous, flag-waving throng of hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged their enthusiasm but also urged them to be strong, solid and think about their faith. Pope Benedict walked through the Puerta de Alcala, a monumental arch symbolizing the entrance to the city, with young people representing Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Moving to the nearby Plaza de Cibeles for the formal greetings and a prayer service, young people representing the various regions greeted the pope and gave him a gift that represented a formal cultural welcome. The pope received salt and bread from a young Polish woman; a flower garland from a Japanese woman; a bowl of rice from a South Korean; a sombrero from a Honduran; and coffee beans in a banana leaf from a young man from Australia.

August 19

A spiritual pilgrimage to help fight cancer

August 19, 2011

TORONTO - It’s 805 kilometres from St. Jean Pied du Port in the French Pyrenees to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and 72-year-old George Xuereb believes he can walk it without getting blisters. He has reason to be hopeful. He’s already beaten prostate cancer, so anything is possible. Xuereb will walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela — the Way of St. James — with his son Michael, who harbours doubts on the blister count. Michael Xuereb walked the Camino last year and lost track of the number of blisters that emerged on his feet. He remembers precisely the number of toenails he lost — six. “I figure if I lose five toenails or less I’m moving in the right direction,” said Michael.

Pope offers challenges to young professors, young religious

August 19, 2011

SAN LORENZO DE EL ESCORIAL, Spain (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's meetings with young religious women and young university professors, held in the same complex, had very different tones. The sisters and nuns -- all under 35 -- gathered in the sunny courtyard of the Basilica of St. Lawrence, while the professors -- most under 40 -- gathered inside the imposing stone basilica. The young consecrated women were exuberant: singing, chanting and doing the wave. Most of them stood on their plastic chairs when the pope entered. The young professors visited one another rather quietly before the pope arrived and remained standing on the floor when the pope entered; they were in a church, after all. In speeches to both groups, the pope expressed gratitude and offered encouragement, but he once was a young professor himself, and much of his advice to the scholars was based on personal experience and a continuing keen observation of what is happening in universities around the world.

August 20

Vatican publishes documents related to Oregon sex abuse cases

August 20, 2011

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican published online more than 70 pages of documents which, it said, prove the Vatican had no knowledge of a priest's sexual misconduct until he and his religious order petitioned for his laicization. The case involves the late Andrew Ronan, a former Servite priest who was laicized in 1966; a man who says he was abused by Ronan in Oregon in 1965 has taken the Vatican to court, claiming Ronan was a Vatican employee. In a statement Aug. 17, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said, "While most of the case has been dismissed, two accusations made by (the) plaintiff's attorneys have persisted and have been repeatedly reported in the press: that the Holy See knew that Ronan was an abuser, and that the Holy See transferred Ronan from one place to another with that knowledge. "Those would, of course, be very serious accusations -- if true," Father Lombardi said. "But, as we are learning with the development of the case, the accusations are decidedly not true."

Memories of Madrid

August 20, 2011

The festivities in Spain are over, but we want your memories of World Youth Day to live forever! Share your favorite experience from World Youth Day 2011 in the easy to fill out form below, and have your experience published in The Catholic Register's special online feature, "Memories of Madrid". This web page has been designed so that you can share your thoughts and feelings of an unforgettable event. Here are some of the first entries we have received. Memories of Madrid - Ken Ramiro Memories of Madrid - Alycia Rodrigues Memories of Madrid - Stefanie Romano Memories of Madrid - Katrina Read Memories of Madrid - Darrell Vekasi Our Youth Editor Vanessa Santilli travelled to Madrid, and you can relive her pilgrimage experience online at youthspeaknews.org. All of our World Youth Day 2011 coverage is included in the "Related links" section at the bottom of this page. In the September 4, 2011 edition of the newspaper a few select of the Madrid memories were printed. Any submissions we receive from now on will be featured here on the website.http://www.catholicregister.org/images/stories/MemoriesMadrid/form.php