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October 2011

October 18

It’s a strange world the Supreme Court lives in

October 18, 2011

It’s a strange, strange world when best-intended efforts to help impoverished drug addicts in Vancouver end up threatening to impose euthanasia on vulnerable Montrealers. Stranger still is when the risk arises from the genuine desire of judges on Canada’s Supreme Court to do the right and merciful thing.

Guard our freedoms

October 18, 2011

Jesus and His apostles and countless martyrs through the ages were executed for proclaiming their beliefs. Today, in many parts of the world, Christians are still killed for giving voice to religious conviction. In 21st-century Canada, people of faith seldom face physical threats but, despite Charter guarantees of religious freedom, they risk being hauled in front of a human rights tribunal if a third party is offended by an expression of faith. In these quasi-courts, an accused person can be censured, fined, forced to apologize and ordered to pay their accuser’s legal fees.

Plenty of social in our halls of power, but where’s the Gospel?

October 18, 2011

There was an interesting moment in the Republican presidential candidates’ debate in California a few weeks back. Brian Williams, the NBC news anchor and moderator, asked Rick Santorum, a prominent Catholic running for the Republican nomination, a question about poverty. “The Catholic faith has as a part of it caring for the poor,” Williams said. “One in seven people in this country now qualifies as poor. Where do the poor come in? Where do they place? In this party, on this stage, in a Santorum administration?”

Standing up for Don Cherry - a good ol’ Kingston boy

October 18, 2011

In Kingston and Wolfe Island, where I work and live, Don Cherry occupies a rather unique place. He grew up in Kingston and has a summer cottage on Wolfe Island. Here, he is one of our own. In a larger sense, too, Cherry is considered by many across Canada to be just that — one of our own in a way that few are. For that reason, from time to time the whole nation erupts in a great Cherry controversy. The Globe and Mail employs a full-time columnist apparently for that reason alone. So for almost a fortnight, much attention was paid to what Grapes said Oct. 6 on the inaugural Coach’s Corner of the hockey season. On Oct. 15, in his regular spot, he apologized.

October 19

To Deacon Chomko, life is a gift, struggles or not

October 19, 2011

TORONTO - Armed with the lessons he learned from the Second World War, Polish army veteran Kaz Chomko, who is approaching a milestone 100th birthday, has been spreading the message of peace and the gift of human life in his 35-year hospital ministry as a deacon with the archdiocese of Toronto. Chomko’s call to the diaconate came in 1976, and he made hospital ministry his call. “My idea was to (highlight) the value of life. I chose to work with the sick and suffering,” he said. When speaking to patients, Chomko spoke of how he coped with his own struggles and found inner peace with God.

Retired educator turns to drama to spread the Word

October 19, 2011

Retired Catholic school educator Eleanor Glenn is on a different stage now, but she still has a passion for teaching others about the Catholic faith. Instead of a classroom, Glenn — who has a religious education specialist certificate — is now spreading the Word through drama in her one-woman play that connects the sacrifice of the Mass with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The Servant at the Supper is about a fictitious servant girl who baked the bread and served the wine at the Last Supper. She is also present when the women bring the news of Christ’s Resurrection to the disciples and at Pentecost.

College president sees similarities between priesthood, armed forces

October 19, 2011

EDMONTON - Basilian Father Terry Kersch is a walking enigma, previously living the life of a soldier and then another as a man of the Gospel. “The religious life and the military life, in some fundamental ways, are not all that different,” said Kersch. “In the military life, it’s the mission that takes precedence and part of your identity is putting yourself at the service of an overall mission.

Research centre to mine insights of Vatican II

October 19, 2011

OTTAWA - A new research centre at Ottawa’s Saint Paul University will study the contribution Canadians made to Vatican II as well as how the Council has shaped religious communities here. A year before the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the Research Centre for Vatican II and 21st Century Catholicism launched Oct. 13. It will examine ecumenism and interreligious dialogue in contemporary society and look at issues of progress and decline in the Catholic community.

Sacred Heart satisfies Peterborough’s hunger for Catholic education

October 19, 2011

Peterborough’s first Catholic liberal arts college is responding to the need for solid Catholic education for youth in the diocese, says Fr. Joseph Devereaux, chancellor of the Peterborough diocese. “The focus is to provide something for youth that will help them,” said Devereaux. “(It’s about) what can we do for youth intellectually, spiritually, socially. A well-rounded education can help provide that.”

Friends, family the key to Gail Ward’s 100 years

October 19, 2011

TORONTO - When Gail Ward started answering phones at Our Lady of Lourdes parish the first of Mackenzie King’s three Liberal governments was in its last days, the nation was still mourning nearly 70,000 dead from the First World War, the Scopes monkey trial was just underway in the United States, Pope Pius XI was establishing the Vatican as a sovereign state and the Great Depression was unthinkable. She was 14 years old in 1925 and enjoying a game of tennis outside the rectory when she was asked to fill in for the missing parish secretary. It was the beginning of a career in parishes that spanned 80 years.

Assisi III: Benedict puts his own mark on prayer summit's third edition

October 19, 2011

VATICAN CITY - Slowly and carefully, the Vatican is setting the stage for the third edition of the interreligious "prayer for peace" encounter in the Italian pilgrimage town of Assisi. The Oct. 27 event marks the 25th anniversary of the first such gathering. As in 1986, it is expected to draw representatives from many Christian denominations and more than a dozen other faiths. It is also being celebrated in cities throughout the world, including Toronto where the Toronto Area Interfiath Council is hosting its own event at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Catholic Family Services hosts Mass to end woman abuse

October 19, 2011

TORONTO - The foundation that supports Catholic Family Services of Toronto doesn’t know how to solve the problem of men beating up and bullying their wives and girlfriends, but they know one thing we should be doing about it. They want us to pray. Catholic Family Services of Toronto Foundation is bringing Catholics together to pray for victims, families and even the abusers at its second annual Mass to End Woman Abuse Nov. 3. This year the Mass will be held 6 p.m. at St. Clare’s Church, 1118 St. Clair Ave. W., with Fr. Vito Marziliano presiding. The Mass will offer prayers for women and for healing, said Mary Benincasa of St. Clare’s parish.

Pilarski celebrates the gift of motherhood

October 19, 2011

TORONTO - At the height of her career, Dorothy Pilarski was training hundreds of women how to be successful in business. But Pilarski says her most rewarding endeavour has been as a mother to her two children. In her new book, Motherhood Matters: Inspirational Stories, Letters, Quotes & Prayers for Catholic Moms, Pilarski invites women to reflect on the vocation of motherhood. She shares personal experiences through inspirational stories on the joys and challenges of motherhood that show how she has shared the Catholic faith with her son and daughter. “We need a movement to reclaim motherhood to the dignity that Our Lady (gave) it,” Pilarski said.

New magazine brings faith to public square

October 19, 2011

More than two years in the making, Canada has a new magazine that intends to inject the voice of faith into public debates. Convivium, which published its preview issue Oct. 18, is modelled on the influential American publication First Things. And just as First Things has been praised as an important vehicle to explore the delicate relationship between religion and society, Convivium publisher Peter Stockland hopes to engage religious-minded Canadians in public debates about the serious moral and cultural issues of our times.

D&P controversy heats up at bishops' plenary

October 19, 2011

OTTAWA - Controversy surrounding the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) continued to dog Canada’s bishops as they began their annual plenary Oct. 17-21 in Cornwall, Ont. On day one of Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' gathering of 90 bishops from across Canada, a Quebec pro-life group dropped off a 400-name petition demanding a complete review of CCODP, while the editor of LifeSiteNews.com, whose coverage has fuelled much of the controversy, was asked to leave the premises.

Durocher expecting great challenges in new role as archbishop of Gatineau

October 19, 2011

OTTAWA - Alexandria-Cornwall Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher looks to Jesus on the road to Emmaus as a model guiding him in his new appointment as archbishop of Gatineau, a major Quebec See opposite Ottawa in the National Capital Region. Just as Jesus asked the travellers on the road what they were talking about and what concerned them before he opened up the Scripture and broke bread with them, Durocher sees his task as one of discovering the hungers and spiritual needs of the people in his new archdiocese and hearing their stories. Fluent in French and English, Durocher said that despite his familiarity with the Franco-Ontarian community, he expects to encounter some cultural differences in Quebec. A “different style of belonging to the Catholic Church” has developed in Quebec over the last 40 years, he said. The great majority consider themselves Roman Catholic, but it “is not typically exhibited by weekly attendance at Mass.”

A strong family beneficial to the economy: study

October 19, 2011

Citizens, business, government and civil society would do well to strengthen the family because the wealth of nations and the economy is tied to the fortunes of the family, says a new international report. The bigger your family, the better for the economy, according to the Sustainable Demographic Dividend, co-sponsored by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. The report examines the connections between marriage, family and the economy. Published by the Social Trends Institute on Oct. 3, the international report looked at 29 countries.

Personal memories sought for Assumption’s heritage centre

October 19, 2011

WINDSOR, Ont. - People from across the country who may have had an association with Our Lady of Assumption Church in Windsor are being asked to contribute personal stories or artifacts about what is one of Canada’s oldest parishes. The memorabilia will be featured in a heritage centre that will be part of a major restoration of the church, which has now officially begun. Assumption is the oldest Catholic parish west of Montreal. It was established by the Jesuits in 1761. The current church dates from 1845 and was the major Catholic institution in its era in Upper Canada.

Finding her path through volunteerism

October 19, 2011

Victoria Sullivan travelled to an impoverished village in the Dominican Republic for two weeks to help build houses as a Grade 11 student. She enjoyed it so much, she went back the following year with her family to continue the work she started. “It was really amazing to see those less fortunate than ourselves but you would never know because of how happy they are,” Sullivan told The Catholic Register.

Helping the hungry at Windsor Zombie Walk

October 19, 2011

WINDSOR, ONT. - The “undead” walked the streets of Windsor during the fifth annual Zombie Walk on Oct. 15 to collect food for the Windsor Food Coalition. About 700 people came to the event dressed as zombies, with most participants being young adults and teenagers along with some adults and younger children. “It’s a good way to make a community event and to raise food cans for the poor,” said Matthew Johnson, 18, a young Catholic who participated in the walk.