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June 2012

June 5

As Syrian fighting spills over, Lebanese patriarch calls for dialogue

June 5, 2012

BEIRUT - Warning that Lebanon is going through a critical juncture, Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai called for national dialogue to address the security and political situation in the country. During his June 3 homily at Bkerke, just north of Beirut, the patriarch condemned the previous day's clashes in the northern coastal city of Tripoli between Sunni groups opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad and Alawites who support the Syrian leader. At least 14 people died and more than 50 were wounded.

Papal butler could face six years in Italian prison if found guilty

June 5, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Paolo Gabriele, the papal assistant, has been accused of aggravated theft, a crime that under Vatican laws is punishable with a prison term of 1 to 6 years, a Vatican judge said. Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, the judge, said under the terms of the Vatican's 1929 treaty with Italy, a person found guilty and sentenced to jail time by a Vatican court would serve his term in an Italian prison. The judge also said that while Gabriele remains detained in a 12-foot-by-12-foot room in the Vatican police station, he was allowed to attend Mass June 3 in an unspecified "Vatican church." Two gendarmes accompanied Gabriele to the church, but he was not required to wear handcuffs, the judge said.

Nigerian cardinal urges crash victims' families to find strength in God

June 5, 2012

LAGOS, Nigeria - Cardinal Anthony Okogie of Lagos consoled the families of the victims of the crashed Dana Air plane and urged them to draw strength from God. "My heart goes out to all those who lost their loved ones, friends and well-wishers. I condole with them and indeed all Nigerians," the cardinal said in a statement June 4, the day after the crash.

Art is part of the healing for residential school survivors

June 5, 2012

TORONTO - While residential school survivors told their life stories of trying to piece together family life after childhoods spent in an institution, Hilton Henhawk held a brush above canvass. As an artist trained at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and an elder in his own right, Henhawk was seeking a picture of native culture and identity that transcends the residential school experience without forgetting the harm his people have suffered. "It's got to be representative of the native as a whole," Henhawk told The Catholic Register as he began to paint an ideal chief — a leader who could embody the spirit of his people.

Residential schools are relevant to all Canadians

June 5, 2012

TORONTO - “Canadians from before have done a great disservice to Canadians who are new by not telling the story, the true story of this country,” said Estella Muyinda. Muyinda was born in Uganda. Today she is a lawyer and just as thoroughly Canadian as everybody else in line at Tim Horton’s — and more than some. She’s spent time in Inuvik and Tuktoyuktuk in the Northwest Territories. In travelling the country she has learned about the first of Canada’s three founding nations.

The crack in our pitcher

June 5, 2012

There’s a much quoted line from Leonard Cohen that suggests that the place where we are broken is also the place where our redemption starts: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” That’s true, a major wound is often the place where wisdom flows into our lives and a weakness that habitually overpowers us can keep us aware of our need for grace. But that’s half of the equation. A fault, while keeping us humble, can also keep us in mediocrity and joylessness. John of the Cross offers us this image by way of an explanation:

The Father determines all human destinies

June 5, 2012

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) June 17 (Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34) A parable or metaphor plucked from its original time and place is often difficult to understand. At first glance, the image of planting and tending shoots in the reading from Ezekiel seems vague and puzzling. It is only when we study chapter 17 in its entirety and place it in the context of the sixth century BC that it becomes clearer.

Dalton McGuinty is mocking freedom

June 5, 2012

Dalton McGuinty may not trust high school students to make smart choices about what to eat for lunch but he believes they are mature enough to overrule parents, principals and trustees on serious matters pertaining to sexuality and bullying. At noon McGuinty insists adults must impose healthy food on kids in cafeterias. But if those same teenagers, who could be as young as 13, meet after school to discuss sexual orientation, gender identity and bullying, McGuinty will let them impose their will on their adult supervisors. Welcome to the bizarre world of Ontario education, where vegetables may be mandatory but respect for religious tolerance and diversity is optional.

Anglican churches have turned to post-modernism

June 5, 2012

For 500 years the Anglican Church has made an indelible contribution to Christianity. Particularly in liturgy and music, Anglicans have offered up the best that human inspiration and expression could achieve. So it is sad to watch the worldwide Anglican Communion drift further into schism. Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has announced his retirement at the end of 2012. The position of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Anglican tradition is not comparable to the Pope in the Catholic Church; nevertheless the Archbishop remains primus inter pares, first among equals, in the Anglican hierarchy.

Media coverage of GSA controversy veers off-topic

June 5, 2012

The long-running controversy concerning Ontario’s anti-bullying legislation has been covered by the media from the beginning with varying degrees of accuracy. But for inciting a string of negative coverage about Catholic schools and the Church in general, few events match coverage of the Ontario government’s May 25 announcement that all schools must provide gay-straight alliances if requested by students, followed by media reaction to statements from Cardinal Thomas Collins and other Catholic educators. “Toronto’s Catholic Cardinal has a mistaken view of religious freedom,” thundered The Globe, editorializing that the cardinal’s viewpoint — that Catholic schools should be free to combat bullying in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching — is out of keeping with modern constitutional rights, and “public money should not be put toward discriminatory uses.”

The challenging capacity of Canada’s far north

June 5, 2012

WHITEHORSE, YUKON - On my first visit to Canada’s territories, and the farthest north I have ever travelled on the globe, I was even more curious than I usually am, and asked a lot of questions of those who were kind enough to meet me. One word kept being repeated in almost every answer: “capacity.” The bishop of Whitehorse explained the importance of it, the premier of the Yukon emphasized it, a young couple raised it in relation to housing, an aboriginal shop-owner mentioned it in terms of suppliers — even the receptionist at the local newspaper spoke of it in terms of the newsroom.

The ‘Real’ in our reality

June 5, 2012

Most of us wish the title of Greg Wolfe’s book Beauty Will Save the World could come true. But few of us would automatically agree with the argument made in Italian dramatist Romeo Castellucci’s newest work — On the Concept of the Face, Regarding the Son of God — that even human waste can serve the faith.

OECTA supports students’ rights to form GSAs in Catholic schools

June 5, 2012

TORONTO - Despite concerns expressed by Cardinal Thomas Collins, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) says it supports students’ rights to form gay-straight alliances (GSA) in Catholic schools. In a May 29 news release, OECTA president Kevin O’Dwyer said, “Providing safe, inclusive environments and eliminating bullying wherever we can is paramount. If the students feel that a club should be called a GSA — that it makes a difference to them — then, we respect and accept that choice.”

June 6

Thunder Bay parish hosts emergency flood relief Centre

June 6, 2012

THUNDER BAY, ONT. - St. Peter’s parish, in the city’s east end, has become an around-the-clock emergency help centre for hundreds of local residents affected by flooding in this northern Ontario city. “We have one of the only dry basements in this area,” said Fr. Terry Sawchuk, pastor of the parish. “We are providing help 24/7, and we will provide it for as long as it’s necessary.”

Salt+Light TV will be on the ground in Ireland at IEC

June 6, 2012

Canada’s Salt+Light Television has been selected as an official broadcaster of the 50th Eucharistic Congress and will provide live daily coverage from Dublin. Hosted by Fr. Thomas Rosica, coverage will begin at 8 a.m. EDT on June 10 with the opening ceremonies and Mass celebrated by Canadian Cardinal Marc Oullet, Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops. The eight days of coverage, with programming in English, French and Cantonese, will focus on catechesis, personal testimonies and liturgies from a long list of Church leaders, including Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller on June 13.

Irish Church slowly healing but Church bashing persists

June 6, 2012

DUBLIN - As it prepares this week to welcome the Catholic world for the International Eucharistic Congress, the Church in Ireland is showing sparks of renewal following a dramatic loss of credibility over the past decade. A recent survey by the Association of Catholic Priests found that weekly Mass attendance throughout the country is still one of the highest in Europe at 35 per cent. The 2011 Irish census indicated 84 per cent of people still self-identify as Catholic. But problems remain. In the capital, still reeling from a combination of religious apathy, secularism and disenchantment as a result of clergy sex abuse scandals, Mass attendance in some parishes is just two per cent.

Bishops, D&P fight African drought

June 6, 2012

OTTAWA - A looming humanitarian crisis in West Africa’s drought-ravaged Sahel region has prompted Canada’s Catholic bishops to join forces with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace in an appeal for donations. D&P executive director Michael Casey called the growing food shortages “a major crisis,” but one that has received little to no media attention. “The needs are extensive and will only increase,” he said.

Anti-bullying clubs should recognize the dignity of all

June 6, 2012

There’s plenty of well-reasoned discourse on all sides of the current debate around Ontario’s new anti-bullying legislation — but something’s missing. The voices that I have not heard in the debate are those of teens and youths dealing with same-sex attraction who want to live in conformity with God and His Church. I can’t speak for anyone except myself — but as a person who was bullied, and a person who has dealt with same-sex attraction, I think I can offer a few thoughts. I returned to the Church last fall, after 13 years away. In addition to excellent pastoral support, a welcoming parish community and, of course, God’s grace, one of the biggest reasons I stayed in the Church after my return was the Church’s teaching on sexuality.

CCCB concerned with sheikh’s call for violence

June 6, 2012

OTTAWA - A call by an influential Saudi sheikh to destroy all churches on the Arabian Peninsula has led the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Human Rights Committee to voice its concern to the government of Saudi Arabia. In a May 30 letter to Saudi Ambassador Osamah Al Sanosi Ahmad, Bishop François Lapierre, chairman of the CCCB’s Human Rights Committee, referred to a March 12 statement by Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, who said: “only one religion,” Islam, “should exist in the Arabian Peninsula” and thus “it is necessary to destroy all churches in the region.”

Fired Rogers Sportsnet host Damian Goddard finds strength in faith

June 6, 2012

TORONTO - Former Rogers Sportsnet host Damian Goddard is accustomed to talking into a camera. But with the lights temporarily shut off on his TV career he is looking forward to telling his story to a live audience. Goddard will be a featured speaker at the Toronto Pro-Life Forum 2012 to be held June 15-16 at Hotel Novotel in Toronto. Goddard was fired by Sportsnet, part of Rogers Media, in May 2011 after he tweeted support for hockey agent Todd Reynolds’s position against gay marriage. Rogers says the firing was unrelated to Goddard’s tweet. A year later, still seeking fulltime employment in the broadcast industry, Goddard stands behind his words.