June 2012

Cardinal Collins defends Catholic approach to bullying

June 1, 2012

Cardinal Thomas Collins is puzzled and troubled by the Ontario government's reversal on a key aspect of Bill-13 but says it's premature to speculate on a court challenge to keep gay-straight alliances out of Catholic high schools. Collins responded on May 28 to Education Minister Laurel Broten's announcement three days earlier that the government's anti-bullying Bill-13 will be amended to prevent Catholic school boards from blocking clubs called gay-straight alliances (GSAs). Under the amended legislation, the naming of such clubs will be solely up to students. Previously, the bill said clubs that deal with sexual orientation and gender issues could be called a gay-straight alliance "or another name."

German cardinal calls for 'social market economy' in wake of crisis

June 1, 2012

WASHINGTON - German Cardinal Reinhard Marx called for a "social market economy" in the wake of the fiscal crisis that has gripped much of Europe over the past year. In a May 30 talk delivered at Georgetown University in Washington, Cardinal Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, said the economy needed to move "beyond capitalism" in order to be more fair. He added that he was not calling for the abolition of capitalism, saying that capitalism was "an element" in the social market economy he has in mind. But Cardinal Marx suggested that it was the practice of "financial capitalism" in the era since the tearing down of the Iron Curtain that had brought Europe to its crisis point today.

Peruvian church leaders concerned after 2 detained during mine protests

June 1, 2012

SICUANI, Peru - Church leaders in Peru called for dialogue and expressed concern about the detention of two human rights workers in the southern Andes Mountains during violent protests over a copper mine. Two people have been killed and dozens, including police officers, have been injured in demonstrations against the Tintaya Mine, owned by Xstrata, a Swiss company. On May 28, the government imposed a 30-day state of emergency after the protest, which began the week before, turned violent May 27.

Catholic Movie Reviews - Snow White and the Huntsman, Chernobyl Diaries, Crooked Arrows

June 1, 2012

This week's big release is another modern re-telling of the classic Snow White fairytale. Is it worth your $13?

LCWR board says Vatican order to reform based on 'flawed process'

June 1, 2012

WASHINGTON - The national board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious said June 1 the assessment that led to a Vatican order to reform the organization "was based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency." "Moreover, the sanctions imposed were disproportionate to the concerns raised and could compromise their (board members') ability to fulfill their mission," the board said in a statement. "The report has furthermore caused scandal and pain throughout the church community and created greater polarization."

Freedom of conscience has deep religious roots

June 1, 2012

Rarely is St. Thomas Aquinas a hot topic. The 13th century Angelic Doctor has been out of the news for some time. But when Canada’s bishops recently issued a pastoral letter to remind “men and women of good will” about the centrality of conscience to the very idea of freedom, they were channelling St. Thomas via two of the Second Vatican Council’s most important declarations — Gaudium et Spes and Dignitatis Humanae. Issued on May 14, the bishops Pastoral Letter on Freedom of Conscience and Religion defends the right of religious freedom and expression in the public square while affirming the right of conscience and conscientious objection. It urges believers to never compromise their faith “even if they must suffer for it.”

TRC Commission brings Native issues to heart of Toronto

June 1, 2012

The bitter history of Canada's attempt to wipe out aboriginal culture through a system of Church-run schools has come to Canada's largest and most invisible Native community — and it's biggest city. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is meeting with 600 delegates, including about 100 residential school survivors, in downtown Toronto at a May 31 to June 2 community-organized event called The Meeting Place, a name that freely translates the Mohawk word ktaronto, which eventually became the name of the city. There are about 80,000 aboriginal Canadians — Metis, Indian and Inuit — living in Toronto.

In Lebanon, a convert to the faith from an unlikely place

June 1, 2012

BEIRUT - The first time Thomas stepped inside a church, he was overcome with emotion. "This was my dream, to see a church," Thomas recalled. "I entered, I forgot myself. I couldn't control myself from crying." The Muslim man and his Ethiopian Orthodox wife had just arrived in Lebanon from Yemen, Thomas' homeland, seeking freedom of religion.

‘First lady’ of the organ Diane Bish coming to Toronto

June 1, 2012

Diane Bish must be the busiest woman in the world. Besides being the pre-eminent organ performer of our time, she also composes, has designed her own instrument, runs a television program that’s in its 30th year with over 500 programs in the bank, and is gearing up to perform in Toronto. None of this seems to tire her out, though. As she readies for her June 6 closing performance at Toronto’s Organix festival, Bish is recovering from a bout of laryngitis and has recently returned from a filming her TV program The Joy of Music, where she took a riverboat from Amsterdam to Switzerland, playing at various ports along the way.

600 protesters rally in Toronto to oppose GSAs

June 1, 2012

Choir school training launched jazz singer Matt Dusk’s career

June 3, 2012

TORONTO - Toronto-born jazz artist Matt Dusk originally got into the music business because of a cow. “I don’t know if you remember, but there was this television commercial with a singing cow for HP,” said Dusk, and as though to jog the memory he croons out a snippet of a jingle in his signature silky tone, complete with “moo” at the end. Although, a more dulcet cow sound is scarce to be found.

Philadelphia to host World Meeting of Families in 2015

June 4, 2012

MILAN - When the Archdiocese of Philadelphia hosts the United States' first World Meeting of Families in 2015, it will need to be a significantly smaller affair than the enormous gatherings seen since its inception in 1994, said the city's archbishop. It is only with a reduced number of participants that "we could manage through special gifts and the like that people would be willing to give to support such a gathering," Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia told Catholic News Service shortly after Pope Benedict XVI's announcement.

Pope opens possibility of US visit, says faith builds strong families

June 4, 2012

MILAN - As Pope Benedict XVI closed the World Meeting of Families in Italy's capital of finance and fashion, he opened the possibility of his heading to the United States when he named the Archdiocese of Philadelphia the next venue of the world gathering. "God willing," he said, he would attend in 2015 as he greeted Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia and "the Catholics of that great city," saying he looked forward to meeting U.S. Catholics and other families from around the world there.

Vatican warns against errors in Mercy nun's 2006 book on sexual ethics

June 4, 2012

WASHINGTON - The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith warned June 4 that Mercy Sister Margaret Farley's 2006 book, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics," contains "erroneous propositions" on homosexual acts, same-sex marriage, masturbation and remarriage after divorce that could cause confusion and "grave harm to the faithful." In a notification signed by U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada and approved March 16 by Pope Benedict XVI, the congregation said the book "is not in conformity with the teaching of the church" and "cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counseling and formation, or in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue."

Broten affirms constitutional rights of Catholic education

June 4, 2012

The Ontario government respects the constitutional rights of Catholic education and is committed to its continuation, said Education Minister Laurel Broten. Speaking to The Catholic Register in the wake of Cardinal Thomas Collins calling the Liberal's amended version of Bill 13 an infringement on religious freedom, Broten also rejected calls from some politicians and media for a single, secular education system. "I've been very clear," she said. "The premier's been very clear. We respect the constitutional protection of Catholic education and that conversation is not on the table."

Large families find strength, grace at world meeting in Milan

June 4, 2012

MILAN (CNS) -- One thing the Tuncaps and the Wongs have in common, other than attending their first World Meeting of Families with five children each, is they've had a lot of people tell them they were crazy. Paula Wong, 42, said that back home in Coogee, Australia, people at the supermarket often say "I'm so glad I'm not you!" as she pushes her cart with her tousle-haired kids. Her husband Hendrikus, 45, said his relatives still can't understand why he would want so many children when his mother grew up poor in Jakarta in a family of 10.

Swiss Guards lay down halberds, volunteer to help Italian quake victims

June 4, 2012

VATICAN CITY - With Pope Benedict XVI in Milan for three days under the watchful eyes of Vatican and Italian police, members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard set down their halberds and headed off to do some volunteer work in earthquake-stricken Northern Italy. Lt. Col. Christoph Graf, vice commander of the Swiss Guards, told L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, that it was "a spontaneous act of charity and solidarity." Twenty members of the 100-strong corps left their Vatican barracks early June 2 and headed to Emilia Romagna, struck by earthquakes May 20 and 29. The death toll from the second quake reached 17 June 4 when a corpse was pulled from the rubble of a factory.

600 protesters rally in Toronto to oppose GSAs

June 4, 2012

An estimated 600 people packed a downtown Toronto square on May 31 before marching to Queen's Park to protest the Ontario Liberal government's Bill 13. "We are here to make a very public statement against the absolutely totalitarian legislation called Bill 13," said Jack Fonseca of Campaign Life Catholics. "Dalton McGuinty has set before us a choice between liberty and tyranny. It's requiring the Catholic Church to violate its religious beliefs in many respects."

Historian says Vatican II documents must be read as a body of work

June 5, 2012

WASHINGTON - With observances of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council being conducted around the world, one church historian cautioned that the council's documents should be studied comprehensively, lest they be misunderstood or their reforms dismantled piece-by-piece. Jesuit Father John W. O'Malley, a professor in the theology department at Georgetown University who is renowned for his work in church history, said the documents should be considered as one body of work, not as unrelated parts. He was asked to speak to the Catholic Common Ground Initiative about the significance of just one of the council's 16 documents, "Gaudium et Spes," the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

Haitian bishops appreciate US church efforts to build solidarity

June 5, 2012

WASHINGTON - Knowing that American Catholics stand in solidarity with the Haitian Catholic Church opens new opportunities for people of both countries to learn from each other and begin to shape a unified future together, a group of Haitian bishops said. In Washington for the One Table, Many Partners National Solidarity Conference June 1-3, the prelates said during a visit to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops they see U.S.-Haiti solidarity strengthening, leading to a more self-sufficient Haitian church as long as there is a mutual exchange of ideas.