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November 8, 2011
Writing in the National Post Oct. 25, Terrence Corcoran insists that even more important than criticizing the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace for talking about the “ideology of markets” is a need to “head off the Roman Catholic Church’s mad rush into global statism and authoritarianism.” Corcoran was commenting on the recent statement by council president Cardinal Peter Turkson, entitled “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority.”
November 9, 2011
"Jesuit Saints" 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.
WASHINGTON - A top Vatican ecumenist said different types of divisions affect Catholic relations with the Orthodox churches and with those that were born from the Protestant Reformation, but both can be resolved with dialogue. He also criticized the “anti-Catholic attitude” displayed by some Pentecostals and said Catholics must resist a temptation to adopt the “sometimes problematic evangelical methods” of those churches. Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Swiss-born president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke at The Catholic University of America Nov. 3. The title of his talk was “Fundamental Aspects of Ecumenism and Future Perspectives.”
The Niagara Catholic District School Board and King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario have signed a partnership agreement to promote the life-long process of Catholic education. The partnership reflects the Niagara Catholic board’s focus on “building a strong Catholic identity and community to nurture the distinctiveness of Catholic education,” said John Crocco, the NCDSB’s director of education. Crocco said the agreement will provide faith formation for the adult faith community at King’s College and the Niagara Catholic board, including individuals at the diocesan level.
TORONTO - They won’t all agree, but they will acknowledge the common ground, if only because they’ve walked it together. Franciscan Friar of the Atonement Father Damian MacPherson, Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton and Imam Abdul Hai Patel travelled together with an interfaith band of pilgrims to the Holy Land in September. Now they’re ready to report back. The four leaders will present a panel discussion called “Walking the Path of Abraham” at the Scarboro Missions headquarters, 2685 Kingston Rd., in Toronto Nov. 29, at 7 p.m.
VAUGHAN, ONT. - The Sara Elizabeth Centre (SEC), which offers arts-based inclusive programs for young adults with developmental and physical disabilities, officially opened its doors on Nov. 5. Established in 2006, the SEC never had a place to call home, until now. The centre is located at 7412 Kipling Ave. in Vaughan. The permanent location has provided a new beginning for the organization, said Cris Smith, founder and executive director of Blue Veil Charity, the non-profit charitable organization that runs the centre.
Students at Mississauga’s Holy Name of Mary College volunteered at 14 different agencies to be a living sign of hope to neighbouring communities through their contribution of time and work. On Nov. 3, more than 80 students took part in the school’s inaugural “A Day of Hope,” volunteering in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Thornhill and Hamilton at places like Good Shepherd Shelter, Daily Bread Food Bank and St. Felix Centre. “They were a visible sign of hope through anything from peeling potatoes to painting hallways to cleaning out horse stalls to serving the poor in soup kitchens,” said James McLevey, head of religion and chaplaincy at Holy Name of Mary College and teacher organizer of the day.
You learn more than you’d expect playing the part of the lunatic. On the third Friday of every month, Catholic Christian Outreach in Kingston, Ont., hosts the “Cornerstone,” a gathering in which an aspect of our Catholic faith is explained in a way that could be appealing to the average university student. Recently, the theme was Jesus’ momentous question to Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” and we decided to introduce our theme with a skit. What better apologetic argument is there in answer to that question than the Lewis Trilemma? The trilemma is an argument laid out by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity that attempts to prove Jesus is divine. Occasionally summarized “liar, lunatic, lord,” it places the questioner in a rhetorical dilemma which leaves no room for any other alternative than He is Lord. Jesus reveals His divinity repeatedly in the Gospels; therefore, if it is not the case that He was divine, He was either completely deluded or He deliberately deceived His followers. But would a lunatic be able to live a life so in fulfilment of the Old Testament? Would a liar — a truly evil man — have lived in a way that was otherwise so morally unquestionable?
TORONTO - The Commonwealth decision to let Catholics marry into the Royal Family but still exclude them from the throne doesn’t much impress Tony O’Donoghue. “Big deal,” said an underwhelmed O’Donoghue as he works away on a book about everything that’s wrong with Canada’s constitutional monarchy. “Just allowing whoever is in line for the throne to marry a Catholic, is that a big deal? I think that’s a lot of B.S.” O’Donoghue managed to get the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2003 to rule on the constitutional validity of the 1701 Act of Settlement, one of several laws that determine who may or may not be monarch. He wanted the Act of Settlement, which forms part of Canada’s Constitution, declared unconstitutional and invalid.
The arrival of a newborn baby usually brings cheers, not a doomsday prediction for the world. But that’s how Philippine-born Danica May Camacho, symbolically called the world’s seven billionth baby, was introduced by international media on Oct. 31. Her birth was used in news stories to indicate the UN’s concerns about global overpopulation. Overpopulation theorists charge that there are not enough resources to feed and care for seven billion people. They advocate for “population control” like contraception and abortion especially for Third World countries.
OTTAWA - The fifth Ottawa 40 Days for Life prayer vigil ended Nov. 6 with signs the movement is stronger than ever. Twenty-six parishes or groups participated in the vigil outside the Morgentaler abortion facility on Bank Street, a 20-per-cent increase over the last campaign. It also marked the first time the Bible was read out loud during the campaign. Each day, for two hours straddling the busy noon hour, the Bible was read out loud with the help of a microphone and speaker set up at the site.
GATINEAU, Que. - Hundreds packed the Gatineau cathedral on All Saints’ Day to bid farewell to Archbishop Roger Ébacher, who is retiring after having served the diocese for 23 years. “Brothers and sisters, during these years of walking with you, I have received much from you,” Ébacher said in his homily, flanked by the bishops of Ottawa and Gatineau’s suffragan bishops from Amos, Mont Laurier and Rouyn-Noranda. “Every service in the Church is an exchange: we give and we receive. “I received from you so many inspiring examples, encouraging support, generous solidarity, as well as challenges,” he said. “For this, I thank you with all my heart.”
TORONTO - With a title like “The Future of Religion in a Secular Age” the evening of high-minded talk on the campus of the University of Toronto might have been an invitation to religious hand-wringing. The new atheists, religious illiteracy, technology, loneliness, multiculturalism and community breakdown were all on the agenda. But with humour and insight two of the most prolific and thoughtful religious writers alive used the evening to affirm that faith requires intelligence. “Think of me as a lapsed heretic,” said England’s Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers for victims of recent flooding in Central America, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world and urged people to be generous in helping those suffering the effects of natural disasters. In a sunny St. Peter's Square, after days of rain in Rome, Pope Benedict made his appeal at the end of his weekly general audience Nov. 9.
OTTAWA - Changes in the no longer mandatory long-form census have prompted the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to examine new ways to fund their Ottawa-based secretariat. “The bishops are becoming more and more aware that the CCCB has important financial challenges,” said CCCB general secretary Msgr. Pat Powers in an e-mail. “These include revenues and expenses, as well as how these have been reported in the past.” Powers noted the CCCB “used to rely on Statistics Canada to provide data on the Catholic population of each diocese.” The census will no longer be asking for religious affiliation. The CCCB and the Catholic Civil Rights League were among many groups that opposed the changes last year.
OTTAWA - The head of Priests for Life Canada has weighed in on a heated political debate about whether Liberal MP Justin Trudeau is a good or bad Catholic. “If someone wishes to be a Catholic they cannot pick and choose over the fundamental social justice teachings of the Church,” said Fr. Tom Lynch, who has headed the national pro-life organization of priests and lay members since 2008. “You cannot pretend that life issues and human sexuality teachings are not central to the social justice teachings of the Church. “I cannot pretend to be a good Catholic and be a racist,” said Lynch. “You cannot pretend to be a good Catholic and be pro-abortion.”
OTTAWA - Quebec could be headed for a fiscal collapse like that threatening Greece if it doesn’t re-examine its social programs, says a new study by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. “There are real reasons to be concerned about the sustainability of the rather ambitious Quebec welfare state,” say the authors of A Quebec Family Portrait released Nov. 7. “Without substantial fiscal restructuring, the province may not be able to afford to maintain the extensive social benefits it currently offers families.”
TORONTO - Just as more churches across Canada have geared up to sponsor more refugees, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is planning to cap the number of new applications it will accept in the private sponsorship program. Private Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH) do not yet know what their limits will be as of Jan. 1. The government claims it needs to stop the annual flood of new applications to clear a backlog of 23,200 refugees with sponsors waiting in Canada. “In some missions, refugees sponsored through the SAH stream must wait for almost five years before coming to Canada,” a CIC spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “Limiting new applications will allow us to draw down the backlog and improve wait times.”
TORONTO - Since the translation of the Roman Missal has changed, the new texts of the people’s parts don’t fit the old music, said Bill Targett, director of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Formation for Discipleship. “So new music had to be written for those parts of the Mass that are normally sung,” he said. Upon the recommendation of the National Council for Liturgical Music, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned composers Fr. Geoffrey Angeles, John Dawson and M. Michel Guimont to prepare new musical settings for the “ordinary” parts of the Mass.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is making his second trip as pope to Africa in mid-November, spending three days in Benin and presenting an important document on the future of the church on the continent. Benin is a small West African nation with little international influence. But its 150-year history of Christianity, its multi-ethnic and multifaith identity, and its struggles for social justice make the country an ideal platform for the Pope's message. The Nov. 18-20 trip features meetings with government leaders, a speech to non-Christian leaders and an encounter with children at a local parish. The 84-year-old Pope will deliver 10 major talks at 16 events in Benin, spending most of his time in Cotonou, but also visiting the coastal city of Ouidah.