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January 2012

January 18

New Alberta Senator Betty Unger has close ties to Church

January 18, 2012

Edmonton - Alberta’s newest member of the Canadian Senate is a board member of the Western Catholic Reporter and a long-time leader in St. Joseph’s Basilica parish. Betty Unger, named to the Senate Jan. 6 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has served as chair of the WCR board and is currently in her seventh year as a board member. Unger has also been the chair of the parish pastoral council at the basilica parish and currently serves on its finance and administration, and human resources committees. She is also a member of the parish Catholic Women’s League and a Sunday lector.

Youth on pamphlet blitz of province with campaign to de-fund abortion

January 18, 2012

TORONTO - More than 20,000 pamphlets were dropped in mailboxes at homes across Ontario as part of the “De-Fund Abortion Pamphleting Blitz” on Jan. 14. The aim was to raise awareness among taxpayers that their tax dollars are providing abortion services in the province. “It works at the grassroots level to spread awareness about… abortion funding to motivate and activate the everyday person to contact their MPP,” said Alissa Golob, youth co-ordinator at Campaign Life Coalition, who ran the event.

Finding fellowship at the Rise Up conference

January 18, 2012

How did you spend your New Year’s Eve? For as long as I can remember, I have spent New Year’s Eve with family, congregating around cookies and champagne. But this year, I spent it alongside 600 fellow university students at Rise Up, Catholic Christian Outreach’s national conference. The five-day conference in downtown Vancouver was a far stretch from my past New Year celebrations and it inspired a deep desire to live out my Catholic faith.

Element of choice is a key part of love

January 18, 2012

London, Ont. - In today’s society there is a lack of meaning associated with the word love, says Damon Owens, executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute. “When you understand love and you’re able to see this beautiful vision of… what it means to be made in God’s image and likeness, you will be thrilled,” Owens told an audience of about 50 students and alumni gathered at his God, Sex and the Meaning of Life lecture Jan. 12 at King’s University College. “You will be excited and be compelled to live and to love in the fullness and not accepting the counterfeit love the world offers.”

Bishops create webpage on the Church, aboriginals

January 18, 2012

OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has launched a new webpage that traces the relationship of the Catholic Church in Canada and its First Nations’ peoples. The site sketches the history of relations with indigenous peoples, many of whom became part of the Church and “gave much to it.” It cites Joseph Chiwatenhwa, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and “Grand Chief Henri Membertou, who became the first aboriginal leader to be baptized by the French, as a sign of alliance and good faith in 1610.”

Spreading the Gospel message via YouTube

January 18, 2012

TORONTO - For a generation wired to the Internet via smartphones and laptops, the Gospel can easily be forgotten in the information overload. To prevent this, the Catholic Chaplaincy at York University (CCY) started To the Top, a web series of Catholic videos for youth. “Many young people are spending many hours in front of their computers,” said Joseph Zambon, 25, CCY pastoral assistant and cast member of To the Top. “We, the Church, need to break into these places and make sure that young people are hearing the Gospel message. Otherwise, they will be swept away into a secular culture.” Launched in fall, To the Top was founded by Dwayne Santos, 21, a concurrent education student at York, as a way to educate both Catholics and non-Catholics about the faith.

Jesuit taking a scientific approach to prayer

January 18, 2012

PICKERING, ONT. - Believers in every religion and through every century of human history have done something they can’t quite describe, justify or do without. They pray. They may meditate, contemplate, recite, babble or immerse themselves in silence. They may seek solitude or seek company to pray with others. They may follow the rules of a liturgy, improvise or seek a simple, direct encounter with God. Prayer can be rote execution of routine, woven into the fabric of daily life. Or it can be a unique, creative leap into transcendence. Prayers may be led by a spiritual master, immersed in custom and culture or reach for an unconstrained, individual expression of the spiritual.

Christian divisions, including on morality, weaken witness, pope says

January 18, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Divisions among Christians, including on moral issues, weakens their credibility and their ability to respond to the spiritual yearning of many men and women today, Pope Benedict XVI said. While "there is more that unites us than divides us" on the basic tenets of faith -- belief in Christ, the son of God and savior of humanity -- "divisions remain and regard many practical and ethical questions, giving rise to confusion and mistrust, weakening our ability to transmit the saving word of Christ," Pope Benedict said Jan. 18 at his weekly general audience.

January 19

California bishops back signature drives on death penalty, abortion

January 19, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Catholic bishops of California are backing proposed ballot measures to require parental notification before a minor's abortion and to end use of the death penalty in the state. The endorsement, contained in a statement posted Jan. 10 on the website of the California Catholic Conference, marks a departure from the bishops' long-standing policy of not taking a stand on potential initiatives until they have qualified for the state ballot. But the "convergence" of the two proposed initiatives presents "a unique teaching moment on life and family," the bishops said.

Bill protecting state secrets bad for South Africa, says archbishop

January 19, 2012

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africa's bill on protecting state secrets could turn the country into a security state, said Cape Town Archbishop Stephen Brislin. The Protection of State Information Bill, which allows any government agency to apply for classification of information that is "valuable" to the state and criminalizes the possession and distribution of state secrets, "does not serve the interests of the nation and can be used to damage our democracy," Archbishop Brislin said in a Jan. 19 statement.

Ruling over Michigan teacher's firing could have far-reaching implications

January 19, 2012

WASHINGTON - The direction the courts will take with other cases related to religious employment is far from clear, but the Supreme Court's Jan. 11 ruling opens a whole track of possibilities. The decision in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC held that fired teacher Cheryl Perich could not sue under federal disability discrimination laws, because the Michigan Lutheran school where she worked considered her a "called" minister. Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Roberts said the government cannot require a church to retain an unwanted minister because doing so "intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs."

Pope urges agreement between Christians on ethical questions

January 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said Christians of all denominations should come to agreement on ethical matters, especially regarding human life, family and sexuality. The Pope, in a meeting Jan. 19 with an ecumenical group of Catholic and Lutheran leaders from Finland, said that differences among Christians regarding the "proper understanding of human nature and its dignity" had grown in recent years.

Pope warns of threat to freedom of religion, conscience in US

January 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI warned visiting U.S. bishops that "radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, and he called on the church in America, including politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues. The Pope spoke Jan. 19 to a group of U.S. bishops who were in Rome for their periodic "ad limina" visits, which included meetings with the Pope and Vatican officials, covering a wide range of pastoral matters.

"Narcissism" cited in double lives some clergy lead

January 19, 2012

OTTAWA - Despite the many cases in recent years of unfaithful priests, an expert on sexual abuse and pornography predicts a future with a “much healthier Church and healthier priests.” Peter Kleponis is a Pennsylvania psychologist who has counselled priests who sexually abused minors as well as men addicted to pornography, his specialty. He says the Church has gone through a painful phase and, although “it’s not over yet,” there is reason for optimism. “There is hope. There is change,” said Kleponis. But, he adds, “there is still more purification and purging that needs to be done.”

As Tet nears, migrants return to Vietnam, get chance to renew faith

January 19, 2012

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Catholic migrant workers based in Laos are returning home to be with their families in time for the Tet New Year holidays and, for many, the trip will offer a chance to renew their faith. Others, however, even within Vietnam, will not make the traditional journey to be with their family for the lunar new year, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Paul Le Quoc Hai, a Catholic who works as a carpenter in Laos' Khammouan province, said he will take advantage of this Tet holiday to get his two children baptized.

January 20

Catholic movie reviews - Haywire & Red Tails

January 20, 2012

Looking for a movie for the weekend? This week we've got reviews of two big Hollywood action movies. HaywireFassbender [images/stories/movies/HaywireFassbender.jpg] HAYWIRE By John P. McCarthy, Catholic News Service NEW YORK - With the fairly suspenseful but frequently brutal thriller "Haywire" (Relativity), filmmaker Steven Soderbergh tries his hand at action-oriented espionage. Stylish and spare, the result plays like the work of a talented yet restless director ticking another genre off his list.

Parishioners reflect on deep faith of missing cruise ship couple

January 20, 2012

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minnesota - Friends and parishioners of St. Pius X Church in White Bear Lake reflected on the lives of Jerry and Barb Heil at an evening prayer service Jan. 18. On Jan. 19, divers resumed the search for 21 people still missing after a Costa Concordia cruise ship cruise ship crashed into the Italian coast Jan. 13. The Heils are the only Americans who remained unaccounted for among the more than 4,200 passengers. Eleven people died.

Pope says virginity and martyrdom of St. Agnes example of faith

January 20, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI held up the life of a young virgin and martyr as an example to seminarians of the total commitment to Christ required by young men seeking to enter the priesthood. The Pope also said that a solid cultural background and intellectual understanding of faith was essential in the formation of priests as spreaders of the word of God.

Pope says neocatechumenal celebrations must lead members to parish Mass

January 20, 2012

VATICAN CITY - As the Vatican approved the Neocatechumenal Way's unique rite, Pope Benedict XVI underlined that its celebrations were not "strictly liturgical" and that their aim must be to encourage members to partake fully in the liturgical life of the parish. The pope encouraged the movement's members to continue "to offer your original contribution to the cause of the Gospel," and he urged them to always make sure their "precious work" was in "profound communion with the Apostolic See and the pastors of the local church in which they're inserted."

"Everyday is a miracle" for organ recipients

January 20, 2012

Sarah Burke is dead. Others live because of her. The 29-year-old freestyle skiing pioneer's organs and tissue were donated for transplants. As operating rooms in Park City Utah worked on salvaging the Canadian ski hero's organs, the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, Trillium Gift of Life Network and St. Michael's College chaplaincy department gathered Catholics on the University of Toronto campus to discuss ways of persuading more Catholics to donate their organs and tissue. "The stories really are what motivates people," said CCBI executive director Moira McQueen as she opened up the Jan. 19 forum.