FREE access to the digital edition and archives until September 2. Click here. →
Browse › 2012 › March
March 27, 2012
Easter Sunday (Year B) April 8 (Acts 10:34, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18) The first Easter proclamation was rather simple. It spoke of a spirit-filled man who travelled throughout Judea and Galilee ‘doing good’ — healing, encouraging, challenging and inspiring all who were troubled or suffering. There was little reference to the content of his teaching or to complex theological issues. Shock and grief at his untimely end on the cross was evident but also wonder, joy and awe at the fact that God raised him from the dead.
They were exciting times. Pope John XXIII, just months after being elected as Pope, called for an Ecumenical Council. The sorrows, suffering, hopes and joys of the human family were to be those of the Church as well. Bishops, theologians and others from all over the world gathered in Rome from 1962-65 to debate the issues of the day and their relationship to the faith and sacramental life of the Church. One could almost say that the Church saw herself now as part of a global village. Pope John XXIII also asked the Church of the global north to be concerned about the struggles of the global south. Many religious orders and dioceses responded. These were inspirational times and brought the issues of the human family world wide into the consciousness of Catholics here in Canada
The issue of free speech on university campuses comes up almost every year. Over the past five years at least half-a-dozen student pro-life clubs have faced restrictions, outright bans or the threat of bans. Controversy around their speaking events, including the shutting down of speakers, is not uncommon. In recent years presentations by conservative speakers have been cancelled or moved off campus due to “security concerns.” Meanwhile, pro-choice and other very liberal speakers are usually welcomed on the same campuses, suggesting the issue with conservative speakers is less about security than about their unpopular and presumably unwanted viewpoints.
In a perfect world, agencies dedicated to lifting people out of poverty would be well financed with both private and public funds. But the world of 2012 is far from perfect so it should be no shock that Development and Peace is reeling from a 68 per cent cut in government funding. Governments everywhere are scrambling to reduce huge budget deficits and ballooning debts exacerbated by global economic turmoil. In Canada, amid expensive national infrastructure and bailout programs, the Conservative government changed its approach to foreign aid in 2010. Where foreign aid used to be based on a percentage of GDP, it is now capped at $5 billion annually.
The question arises because last June I wrote in this column that CCODP “has a tenuous claim on Catholic dollars because, aside from fundraising in Catholic parishes, they have a tenuous relationship with any distinctively Catholic mission. In their operations they are largely — and by their own proud design — indistinguishable from any number of peace and justice NGOs working in the developing world.” The bishops of Canada take a different view and, in a March 22 statement, urged Catholics to redouble their generosity during the annual Share Lent campaign. In Kingston, our own archbishop sent a message to all parishes to that effect. I included it in my parish bulletin in the space usually reserved for my own message.
A Quebec legislative committee’s call for legalized euthanasia might be a grave danger to Canada’s health care system. Its immediate and unquestionable menace, however, is the damage it does to democracy. For the moment, the Select Committee on Dying With Dignity’s all-party report presented March 22 to the province’s National Assembly is in parliamentary and pre-election limbo. There is reason to hope its mad demand for legalizing doctor-administered assisted suicide in Quebec by 2013 will be lost in the dust of politicians hitting the campaign trail.
March 28, 2012
WASHINGTON - Just in time for Mother's Day, U.S. Catholics parishes will be able to celebrate the new Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb. The Vatican has given its approval to publication in English and Spanish of the new rite, which was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2008, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced March 26. The blessing will be printed in both languages in a combined booklet.
HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI spent more than 40 minutes meeting privately with Cuban President Raul Castro and asked the Cuban leader for further freedoms for the Catholic Church in Cuba and attention to certain "humanitarian" situations. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters late March 27 that while he could not give the press details about the humanitarian cases raised during the meeting, the Pope did give Castro specific names of people in detention or suffering for other reasons the government was in a position to help alleviate.
STUDIO CITY, Calif. - The feature films "Hugo" and "The Way," the documentary "I Am" and the television sitcom "Modern Family" have been named winners of this year's Catholics in Media Awards. The Martin Scorsese film "Hugo," the filmmaker's first feature given the 3-D treatment, is getting the Film Award from Catholics in Media Associates, sponsors of the prizes for the 19th year. "Hugo" won five Academy Awards in February. "The Way," starring Martin Sheen and directed by his son Emilio Estevez, won the group's Board of Directors Award. Both films were made available on DVD in February.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vietnamese government revoked the visas of representatives of the Rome Diocese, including Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, postponing the delegation's plans for a visit to the communist country. The delegation had planned to visit Vietnam March 23-April 9 to hear the testimonies of people who knew the late Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, whose cause for sainthood was launched by the Diocese of Rome in 2010. Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, told Catholic News Service March 28 that the Vatican was not directly involved with the planned trip.
HAVANA - Preaching at Mass in Havana's Revolution Square, location of the headquarters of Cuba's Communist Party, Pope Benedict XVI called for full religious freedom and greater respect for human rights on the island. "In Cuba steps have been taken to enable the church to carry out her essential mission of expressing the faith openly and publicly," the Pope said during his homily March 28. "Nonetheless, this must continue forward." With President Raul Castro seated near the altar platform, the Pope said, "I wish to encourage the country's government authorities to strengthen what has already been achieved and advance along this path of genuine service to the true good of Cuban society as a whole."
Aggrieved North Bay parishioners claim their attempt to overturn a decision to close and sell their churches was turned down “on procedural grounds.” Former St. Rita’s and Corpus Christi parishioners are appealing a Congregation for the Clergy decision to the Vatican’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. The parishioners hope to get the Apostolic Signatura to rule “on the substantive merits of our two cases,” said former Corpus Christi parishioner Phillip Penna in an email to The Catholic Register. Decrees issued by the Congregation for the Clergy Jan. 13 disallowed the former parishioner’s attempt to overturn Sault Ste. Marie Bishop Jean Plouffe’s decision to reduce the two churches “to profane but not unbecoming use” because their petition was launched too late under the Code of Canon Law.
Now that Ontario’s highest court has found most laws surrounding prostitution in Canada are unconstitutional, people on all sides of the debate are urging Parliament to act. In a landmark ruling likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal rendered a decision on March 26 that legalizes brothels and allows prostitutes to hire protection and other staff. Public solicitation and pimping remain illegal but the court ruled that prostitutes have a constitutional right to work in safe environments. However, the Ontario court suspended implementation of its decision for one year to give Parliament time to amend the criminal code.
When I compare the number of hours I spend acquiring blisters and backaches travelling miles in a rowing shell to the time I spend at Mass or in prayer, I feel sheepish. To paraphrase St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:27, athletes chase after perishable wreaths. As a member of my university’s varsity rowing team, my days are structured around these wreaths: practice, second practice, regattas and recovery.
OTTAWA - Unplug from the Internet, take out those ear buds, take some time to be still, rediscover the love of God — and make prayer time and stillness a habit if you want to effectively share the Good News with young people. That was the message delivered to 300 Catholic youth ministry leaders from across Canada recently at the Canadian Catholic Youth Ministry Network conference on the theme: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
To say Cristina Di Corte was not feeling well would be an understatement. After experiencing bad abdominal pains and vomiting, her doctor thought she might have acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease or even an eating disorder. But after visiting a specialist, Di Corte received some very different news. “Your gut doesn’t work,” he told her. “The muscles around my digestive system don’t function properly so if I eat, it stays in my stomach for a very long time. Eventually, it starts to rot and it ends up making me sick,” said Di Corte, 22, a graduate of St. Joseph Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont.
Majority rules at Hamilton’s Catholic school board as five of eight trustees voted to fill the Ward 6 vacancy by appointment instead of a by-election despite almost three years remaining in the term. Chairperson Patrick Daly sighted both expense, which could exceed $100,000, and low voter turnout as reasons for the decision. “We have to pay 100 per cent of that cost, there is no funding for that and especially in difficult budgetary times that’s a great deal of money and funds that we don’t have available,” said Daly, appointed a trusted after his father’s sudden death in 1985.
Students, staff and special guest Harmony Brown came together on March 22 at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School to raise awareness about an often neglected issue — teen depression. “There is a fear with admitting you have a mental illness,” Brown said to about 100 attendees. Brown told the students that her battle with depression began at age nine, when physical abuse at home ended her “picturesque” early childhood. “It was at that age that I began to have suicidal thoughts,” said Brown, now 36. “What I knew was I was in a terrible place and I wanted out. At nine there didn’t seem like there was a lot of other options.”
OTTAWA - Living with Dignity (LWD), a network of anti-euthanasia groups in Quebec, has condemned the province’s Select Committee on Dying with Dignity report’s support for euthanasia as “dangerous” and a “profound act of political betrayal.” After holding consultations across the province last year, on Mar. 22 the committee recommended the legalization of euthanasia for people experiencing constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering.
Canada’s bishops are asking the government to explain a 68 per cent cut in CIDA funding to Development and Peace, but development experts and opposition politicians are offering explanations the bishops are unlikely to hear from the government. University of Toronto development expert Wilson Pritchart says domestic politics is lurking behind CIDA funding decisions. “What the government in fact is doing is cutting funding to organizations that are critical of it, that are critical of the aid agenda,” Pritchart told The Catholic Register. “And to some extent cutting funding to NGOs that are at all political in favour of using NGOs as conduits for service delivery.”