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October 2011

October 8

Evidence 'incontrovertible' that priests are happy

October 8, 2011

WASHINGTON - Msgr. Stephen Rossetti is out to correct the myth that the typical Catholic priest is "a lonely, dispirited figure living an unhealthy life that breeds sexual deviation," as a writer for the Harford Courant once put it. And he's got the data to prove it. The research is "consistent, replicated many times and now incontrovertible" that priests as a group are happy, Rossetti told a symposium on the priesthood Oct. 5 at The Catholic University of America in Washington. The symposium was built around Why Priests Are Happy: A Study of the Psychological and Spiritual Health of Priests, a new book by Rossetti. A priest of the diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., he is a clinical associate professor of pastoral studies at the university and former president and CEO of St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., a treatment facility for Catholic clergy and religious.

New study shows thriving parishes engage people

October 8, 2011

The accepted premise that religion is withering away in Canada is being debunked by a new study from Canada’s most published and quoted sociologist of religion, Reginald Bibby. Bibby has just released numbers showing the percentage of Canadians committed to regular church attendance is rock solid. He largely attributes the continued vitality to a Catholic Church that is constantly renewing itself through immigration. “If we were thinking, as so many people have been thinking, in terms of secularization — where religion is in retreat mode and things are bad and getting worse — we’re saying that really has been an interpretation that has been very inaccurate,” said the University of Lethbridge sociologist.

October 9

Faith communities continue drive to stop oil pipeline project

October 9, 2011

Witnesses lined up early this morning at the State Deptartment to offer their views on a $7 billion pipeline project designed to carry up to 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. On one side were representatives of the energy industry who say the project would produce thousands of construction jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East oil. The other included religious and environmental groups concerned that extracting oil in Canada’s northern boreal forest will accelerate climate change and harm the livelihood of First Nations people. The project has raised sensitivities in both the U.S. and Canada as debates have revolved around the benefits of economic development and jobs in a deep recession and the long-term impact on climate change.

October 10

Pope Shenouda declares days of mourning after protest turns violent

October 10, 2011

CAIRO - Orthodox Pope Shenouda III declared three days of mourning, fasting and prayer for victims of peaceful protests that turned violent, and church and government leaders called for Egypt to reaffirm its commitment to religious freedom. At least 26 people -- mostly Christian -- were killed and nearly 500 were injured Oct. 9 as gangs armed with firebombs, sticks, swords and rocks attacked about 1,000 people staging a peaceful sit-in outside of a state television building. As the violence escalated, a speeding military vehicle mounted a sidewalk and rammed into a group of protesters, killing a number of them.

October 11

Pope: Silence, solitude needed in 'agitated, sometimes frantic' world

October 11, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Endless news, noise and crowds have made people afraid of silence and solitude, which are essential for finding God's love and love for others, Pope Benedict XVI said. Progress in communications and transportation has made life more comfortable, as well as more "agitated, sometimes frantic," he said, especially in cities, where there is a constant din, even all night. Young people seem to want to fill every moment with music and video, and there is a growing risk that people are more immersed in a virtual world rather than in reality because of the constant stream of "audiovisual messages that accompany their lives from morning to night," he said during a visit to an Italian monastery Oct. 9.

Bishops intervene in case of Iranian pastor who faces death sentence in Iran

October 11, 2011

OTTAWA - Canada’s Catholic bishops have intervened in the case of an Iranian pastor who faces a possible death sentence for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani converted to Christianity from Islam. A year ago, he was sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. He has been given five chances to recant his Christian faith, but has refused. The Iranian Supreme Court has turned his case over to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In an Oct. 6 letter to the Iranian Embassy’s Chargé d’affaires Sheikh-Hassani, Kingston Archbishop Brendan O’Brien raised the “urgent case” of the pastor, whose “life remains in danger” even though at the time his death sentence seemed to have been commuted though he was still being detained and “under pressure to recant his conversion.” But Nadarkhani now faces additional charges of “rape, extortion and security-related charges," according to a report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission. Writing as the chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, O’Brien reminded Sheikh-Hassani that Iran voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.” The letter requested the Iranian government “respect its international commitment to human rights, and that Pastor Nadarkhani, and all other persons in your country who are in similar situations, be treated in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” A copy of the open letter was sent to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who issued a statement Sept. 28 expressing concern over Nadarkhani’s plight. “Canada deeply deplores reports that an Iranian Christian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, could be imminently executed for refusing an order by Iran's courts to recant his faith,” Baird said, calling upon Iran “uphold its obligations under international human rights law.” “Iran consistently violates the human rights of minorities, including Christians and Bahá’i,” Baird said. “Our government is committed to establishing an Office of Religious Freedom to promote and protect these rights around the world, ensuring that this type of persecution does not go unchecked.” Voice of the Martyrs has also raised the pastor’s plight in its regular bulletins on the plight of persecuted Christians.

Egypt's Christians respond to attack with prayer, fasting

October 11, 2011

Prayer and fasting is the only possible response to a military attack on civilian, Christian protesters, a Canadian Coptic priest in Egypt told The Catholic Register. Fr. Bishoi Yassa Anis was just blocks away from a battle between Christian protesters and Egyptian soldiers on the streets of Cairo Oct. 9. Egyptian officials put the death toll at 26 with more than 300 injured. While protests began with the destruction of a church in Aswan, the Cairo protests were trying to draw attention to a long series of attacks on churches since the government of Hosni Mubarak fell in March of this year, said Bishoi (Egyptian family names come first).

Fr. Bob an ‘old preacher’ with a few things to say

October 11, 2011

Fr. Robert J. Bedard, founder of the Companions of the Cross, died on Oct. 6. He was a great sign of hope for the Church in Canada, a truly original pioneer in the new evangelization. Fr. Bob, as he was known to all, and I were not friends, but certainly had many friendly encounters over the years. Our last meeting stands out for it captured so much about Fr. Bob.

Rally for life

October 11, 2011

On Oct. 22 a group of hopeful young Christians is holding a rally for people of all ages that deserves widespread attention and support. The youth wing of Campaign Life Coalition will gather at Queen’s Park in Toronto to urge the provincial government to stop funding abortions with taxpayer money. The target of their protest will be the Ontario government, but the message should resonate with provincial governments nationwide.

Supreme Court oversteps its bounds with InSite decision

October 11, 2011

The Supreme Court of Canada in its decision handed down on the legality of InSite, the Vancouver drug injection site, has arrogantly decided that it is more capable of determining Canada’s national drug policy than the nation’s elected government. It has ordered the Minister of Health to continue the operation of this controversial drug injection site even though, under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act (CDSA), this is supposed to be a matter for the Minister’s discretion.

Never forget the greatest commandment

October 11, 2011

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Oct. 23 (Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40) The Golden Rule comes in many forms. God’s commandment to the people of Israel is very simple: remember when you were a slave in Egypt. Did you like being helpless and at the mercy of others? Did you like being oppressed and mistreated? No? Good, then don’t treat anyone else in that way. They are forbidden to oppress non-Israelite dwellers in the land.

A picture of Dorian Gray and our culture

October 11, 2011

Nearly a century ago, Oscar Wilde wrote a famous novel entitled A Picture of Dorian Gray. It begins this way: Basil Hallward, a painter, has just finished a portrait of a young man of extraordinary good looks, Dorian Gray. Just as he finishes the painting, a brilliant, though highly cynical young Lord, Henry Wotton, wanders into the room, marvels at the painting and compliments Dorian on his good looks. Dorian, quite humble at this stage of his life, tells Lord Henry that his good looks mean little to him. But Lord Henry challenges Dorian to make his good looks mean something, both because they are real and because they are transient. Here are his words to the young Dorian Gray: “You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr. Gray. Don’t frown. You have. And beauty is a form of genius, is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight or spring-time or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it. You smile? Ah! When you have lost it you won’t smile... People say sometimes that beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as thought is. To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible... Yes, Mr. Gray, the gods have been good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory or your past will make more bitter than defeats. Every month as it wanes brings you nearer to something dreadful. Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses. You will become sallow and hollow-cheeked and dull-eyed. You will suffer horribly... Ah! Realize your youth while you have it. Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing... A new Hedonism? That is what our century wants. You might be its visible symbol. With your personality there is nothing you could not do. The world belongs to you for a season...” A new Hedonism — that is what our century wants. Oscar Wilde prophesized this nearly a century ago and, it would seem, that is precisely to where we have evolved in the Western world. Bodily appearance, looking good, having a trim, athletic body, being sexually attractive, remaining young and being admired for your body is, for the majority of our culture, a huge, obsessive preoccupation. Most people in our culture, perhaps not in theory but certainly in our practical life-choices, would agree with Lord Henry when he says: The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. Good looks tend to trump everything. Not that this is all bad. Shallow is the spirituality that discredits the body. We are not angelic, dis-embodied spirits, but creatures of body and soul, and both are important for our spiritual health. God did not make us to walk this Earth indifferent to our bodily appearance, sexually numb and careless about our physical health. Indeed, indifference to our health and bodily appearance is one of the signs of clinical depression. Being young, healthy and sexually attractive is meant to be enjoyed, one of the pleasures that God intended for us. There is no virtue in looking and feeling shabby. Thus, it’s good, spiritually, to be physically healthy. It’s good, spiritually, to work at keeping our bodies attractive. It’s good, spiritually, to healthily feel our sexuality. But these are a means, not an end. Youth, health and sexual attractiveness do not, as Lord Henry and much of our contemporary society suggest, have a divine right of sovereignty. They are not ends in themselves, but only part of our journey towards maturity, altruism and happiness. They are not the aim of that journey. And when we do make them the aim of our journey, we will, soon enough, taste the bitter bile warned of in Lord Henry’s counsel to Dorian Gray: You will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory or your past will make more bitter than defeats.

In Poland, the Catholic faith still endures

October 11, 2011

My husband went to Poland as a teenager and bought a rosary from an old woman at the side of a road. He lost it recently and asked me to buy him a new one. So I found myself on a recent Friday evening in a crowded Warsaw church on Marszałkowska Street, in its tiny religious articles shop. Mass and Benediction had just ended, and people were in no rush to leave. When I am in Toronto, I go to Mass at St. Vincent de Paul on Roncesvalles Avenue. Roncesvalles is at the heart of the Toronto Polish community, and Toronto Poles have dubbed it “Marszałkowska” after Warsaw’s main street. Thus, I was delighted to be on the original Marszałkowska, for paradoxically it reminded me of home.

Maybe the animals could have taken in Life Chain as well

October 11, 2011

The Life Chain is always an illuminating event. I didn’t attend this year, though my wife and one of our children went along. People stand quietly, pray, recite the rosary, reflect on the slaughter of abortion, ask God for forgiveness. I find that it tends to polarize those who drive or walk by. People who walk past tend to either show support or indifference. It’s the critics in cars who scream the loudest, probably because courage is greatest when behind a wheel and encased in metal. Some drivers wave or honk in solidarity, but there are the others who think giving the finger or telling pro-lifers to go forth and multiply — but not in those words — is a sophisticated response to the abortion issue. At this year’s chain one hard, disapproving, rather sad-looking woman slowed down her car and took photographs, then circled around and took more. She obviously thought that the people standing in public with large signs were somehow afraid to be noticed, or shy of exposure. Rather flawed logic, I would have thought. Still, there was little real trouble, and if one person was forced to reconsider, or even think about abortion for the first time, it was all worthwhile.

October 12

Christian unity week enlists technology and social media to get the word out

October 12, 2011

It’s a new day for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The 104-year-old call to Christians to atone for their deliberate and structural estrangement from one another is employing Facebook, Twitter and the very latest publishing technology to get the word out. Promoting the Week of Prayer via social media was basically a no-brainer as far as the Canadian Council of Churches is concerned, said CCC secretary general Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton. “It was just obvious, given that we are continually thinking through communications issues and paying attention to what’s going on,” said Hamilton.

Weekly Crossword #3 - Oct 16th 2011

October 12, 2011

See how you get on with the latest crossword in our new series. Select "file > print" in your browser to print off your own copy.

Deacon Harris lived a life of service

October 12, 2011

ORILLIA, ONT. - It may have taken Deacon Bernie Harris 73 years to become a deacon, but his life of service had started long before that day he was ordained in 2003. Deacon Harris had long been active in pastoral outreach before his ordination, as a hospital chaplain, a eucharistic minister, a prison visitor and a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society among others. Deacon Harris passed away Sept. 29. He was in his 82nd year.

UVic Newman House up and running

October 12, 2011

VICTORIA, B.C. - Students at the University of Victoria (UVic) marked the blessing of its first Newman House, a residence and spiritual home for Catholic students on campus, Oct. 9. Victoria Bishop Richard Gagnon presided over the blessing on the anniversary of the day that Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman was received into the Catholic Church. About 30 students and community members were in attendance. The Newman House, which is all male this year, opened for students at the end of August. “God is blessing me and all the residents with this opportunity to grow in our faith, evangelize the campus and strengthen our resolve to live a faith-filled and holy life,” said Jeremy Côté, 22, the house leader. “I feel that this house has really become a home to me already, both for the people here and the atmosphere of community.”

Helping at-risk youth follow their dreams

October 12, 2011

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - With his telenovela good looks and his “call me Chico” invitation, no one would guess 22-year-old Francisco “Chico” Gonzalez had skirmished with the police before landing in a special program for at-risk youth. Chico’s barrio, Jorge Dimitrov, was settled in 1982 after Lake Managua flooded and forced people out of their homes. Now, new generations are being born and raised in his neighbourhood.

Finding fellowship in the global village

October 12, 2011

From a young age, we are taught that acceptance and love are important values of the Catholic faith. But although we are taught to treat those who are different from us in the same way we’d want to be treated, how often are we around such differences? Raised by a Catholic family and attending Catholic schools in Mississauga, Ont., I was always encouraged to embrace differences — but no one around me was actually all that different. It wasn’t until I left this community to attend university that the world was presented to me, quite literally. Upon arriving at the University of Western Ontario, I was placed on the “global village” floor in residence. I soon realized that this was finally my chance to put the Catholic values I grew up with into action. My residence is designed in a way where some floors have themes. For example, the “music floor” is full of music students and is always alive with melody. I, however, was surprised to learn that my placement was on the global village floor. The floor, set aside for international students as well as many Canadian students of different backgrounds and faiths, would become my home. At first, I was confused. What was so global about me? I thought there might have been a mistake, but I began to observe and learn from the cultural and religious diversity on my floor. For instance, one girl found a Sikh temple near the university and routinely makes trips to practise her faith. Another wears Buddhist amulets for protection and safety in her time away from home. Religious symbols can be found throughout the residents on my floor, such as a small statue of Hanuman brought by another floor mate, which is a Hindu figure said to help everyone in our global village stay focused in their studies. My roommate, who is also Hindu, spends 10 to 15 minutes every morning in rituals and prayers. I’ve also begun to use this time to reflect and pray myself, making our room a true fusion of beliefs. On the outside we in the global village may look like a disjointed group of young people. But, if anything, our differences bring us closer together. We’ve even decorated our floor, hanging up a number of flags and maps. In fact, it is not uncommon to find people lingering in the halls, pointing to the various regions on the map they come from. Having spent more than a month with the people on this floor, I no longer question why I was put here. I know that I bring a unique perspective to our village. I also know that as I learn about all their habits and rituals, they learn about mine as a Catholic youth. This is what is meant by multiculturalism and acceptance. This is what I was taught in school. I am proud to say I have made the world my home and I pray that others get a chance to do so as well. (Hurren, 18, is a media, information and technoculture student at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. Read more about him at youthspeaknews.org)