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October 2012

October 17

Broten sparks outrage with misogyny comments

October 17, 2012

TORONTO - Comments from Ontario’s education minister that equate Catholic teaching on abortion with misogyny have provoked a letter of protest from Cardinal Thomas Collins and a call for the minister’s resignation from other irate Catholics. Speaking to reporters on Oct. 10, Laurel Broten suggested that under the province’s new anti-bullying legislation Catholic schools should not be teaching that abortion is wrong because “Bill-13 is about tackling misogyny.” “We’re very clear with the passage of Bill-13 that Catholic teachings cannot be taught in our schools that violate human rights and bring a lack of acceptance to participation in schools,” Broten said. She later added: “Taking away a woman’s right to choose could arguably be one of the most misogynistic actions.” Collins sent a letter to Broten to express deep concerns about her comments. He also addressed the issue on Oct. 11 when he spoke frankly to 1,700 people attending the 33rd annual Cardinal’s Dinner in Toronto. “It is our mission to speak up for all those who suffer, and especially those who are voiceless, for those who are forgotten,” Collins said. “We all have a stake in assuring that the faith identity of Catholic schools is respected.” Collins did not specifically mention Broten, and neither she nor Premier Dalton McGuinty, who announced his retirement on Oct. 15, were in attendance. The cardinal pointed to Section 93 of Canada’s Constitution and Section 1 of Ontario’s Education Act that enshrine religious freedom for denomination-al schools and “make it clear that the Catholic identity of the school must be respected.” He said that includes the right for “all in the school community to engage in pro-life activities in order to foster a culture of life . . . Defending the voiceless is our mission.” When the ministry was asked if Broten would respond to questions or wished to make further comment or clarify her statements, a spokesman said she was unavailable. Instead the ministry issued a statement that said Bill-13 does not change the curriculum and that the government was “confident that all schools Catholic and public, English and French will be able to operationalize the Act.” Campaign Life Coalition has demanded Broten’s resignation. It also launched an online petition calling for the repeal of Bill-13. By The Register’s press time on Oct. 16, the petition had received more than 5,000 signatures. “We are outraged by the McGuinty government’s frontal assault on religious liberty, and on the constitutional right of Catholic schools in Ontario to teach the Church’s pro-life views,” said Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, in an Oct. 15 statement. “We have never before seen a government assault on religious freedom like what Minister Broten ispromising.” Mary Ellen Douglas, Campaign Life’s Ontario president and a former Catholic school trustee, called on all voters, “whether Catholic or not,” to protest the infringement on religious rights, what she called a “lingering threat to our most fundamental freedom.” Marino Gazzola, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association, said that during the debate on Bill-13, abortion was never on the table and sees no reason why it should be there now. “Catholic teachings are all about life. The act of abortion is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church and the values Catholic schools promote,” he said. “The Catholic community needs to mobilize and show that we still believe in our teachings, we still believe in the Catholic Church and that we are going to move forward like we’ve always done.” Constitutionally speaking, Catholics are on solid ground to defend the right to teach Church doctrine in Catcholic schools, said constitutional lawyer Eugene Meehan. “The Ontario Education Act itself enshrines denominational rights of the schools,” he said. “Section 257.52 says that the minister is not to interfere with, or control, the denomination aspects of a Roman Catholic school.” Meehan said Broten’s comments only add fuel to a potential legal challenge of Bill-13. “It does add additional weight because that opinion makes it clear both on the Charter and Canada’s Constitution that there are certain things that the province can do on the religious context and certainly things that they clearly can not do,” said the former legal officer of the Supreme Court of Canada. “Catholic schools and Catholic school boards being told whether they are to be pro-choice, pro-life, pro-anything doctrinally does sound awfully close to being told — in a religious context — what religious tenets can be taught and which can not.”

Development and Peace relaunches fall campaign

October 17, 2012

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace’s fall education campaign is back on, but without postcards urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to launch a national consultation on foreign aid policy. A limited range of fall campaign materials was posted to Development and Peace’s web site (www. devp.org) Oct. 15. The organization had planned to launch the campaign in September but ran into objections from a number of bishops, putting the traditional fall campaign on hold. Campaign literature has been tweaked to allay bishops’ concerns that the campaign was too political, said national council president Ronald Breau. The basic program remains a critique of recent changes in Canadian foreign aid policy. This year’s discussion of aid policy veers off-course from a five-year plan of ecological education campaigns. But the change of direction is necessary, said Breau. “National council members were adamant that it was important to do this campaign and set the ecological campaign aside for one year,” Breau told The Catholic Register. “I would expect that we would return to the ecological campaign in the future.” The relaunch features a four-page question-and-answer primer on Canada’s foreign aid policy, a campaign poster, a checklist for meetings with Members of Parliament, a membership brochure and an appeal for year-round monthly giving. The most substantial document in the campaign, a discussion paper on development aid policy, was still awaiting approval from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ standing committee on its development agency and Development and Peace’s own liaison committee for talks with the bishops’ conference. Breau expects the discussion paper will pass final scrutiny about a week after the Oct. 15 campaign launch. “I feel we’ve responded to the concerns that were expressed to us. We’ve taken the necessary steps and I don’t expect any delays at all,” he said. It will be the first time in more than a decade that members won’t be asking parishioners to sign postcards or petitions. Postcards printed in August that asked Harper to establish a parliamentary committee to examine the direction of Canadian aid policy will not be sent out. Instead of “Action Cards,” Development and Peace leadership is encouraging parish and diocesan council members to meet with their MPs to discuss aid policy. An open, national discussion about how Canada spends its shrinking aid budget is overdue, said Nippa Banerjee, a University of Ottawa aid and development professor. Canada was the first country to deliver foreign aid through non-governmental organizations, unions, Church-based organizations and private sector groups. CIDA’s partnership branch was an innovation in the 1970s that made aid more flexible and more tightly focussed on the goals of poor people, said Banerjee. Other donor countries eventually imitated the Canadian model. In recent years the partnership branch has been hobbled by underfunding, a bid-for-tender system that discourages long-term thinking and a decidedly more political direction, Banerjee said.

Pope offers reasons to hope for 'new springtime for Christianity'

October 17, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said the enduring desire for God, the truth of the Gospel and the "restlessness" of today's youth are reasons to hope for a "new springtime for Christianity" in Europe and beyond. The pope made his remarks to an interviewer in a new documentary film, "Bells of Europe," which was shown at the Vatican Oct. 15 after the day's session of the world Synod of Bishops. The synod is dedicated to the new evangelization, a project aimed at reviving the Christian faith of secularized societies, especially in Europe and other Western lands. Pope Benedict told his interviewer that he has three main reasons to hope for a Christian revival, starting with the "fact that the desire for God, the search for God, is profoundly inscribed into each human soul and cannot disappear." He said he also takes heart from the eternal truth of the Gospel. "Ideologies have their days numbered," the pope said. "They appear powerful and irresistible but, after a certain period, they wear out and lose their energy because they lack profound truth." "The Gospel, on the other hand, is true and can therefore never wear out," he said. Finally, Pope Benedict cited the dissatisfaction of young people today with the "proposals of the various ideologies and of consumerism." Answering a question about Christianity's prospects in Europe, Pope Benedict said that the continent is undergoing a crisis of identity, divided between "two souls." One of these souls is "abstract anti-historical reason," which seeks "to liberate itself from all traditions and cultural values in favor of an abstract rationality," he said, citing for example a ruling (subsequently overturned) by the European Court for Human Rights that crucifixes should be removed from classrooms in Italian public schools. "We could call Europe's other soul the Christian one," Pope Benedict said, describing it as a "soul which itself created the audaciousness of reason and the freedom of critical reasoning, but which remains anchored to the roots from which this Europe was born." A blend of these two souls, the pope concludes, will lead to a "new humanism" arising "directly from the view of man created in the image and likeness of God."

Won’t be silenced

October 17, 2012

“Defending the voiceless is our mission.” Cardinal Thomas Collins, addressing a packed house at the annual Cardinal’s dinner on Oct. 11, couldn’t have been more blunt in delivering that pro-life message to the Ontario government. Catholic schools largely exist to impart the teachings and moral values of the Church. On the issue of life, Church teaching is unequivocal, just as the cardinal’s position is immovable. His comments came a day after Education Minister Laurel Broten made the outlandish claim that being pro-life was tantamount to misogyny and therefore pro-life activities were unwelcome in Catholic schools because, she suggested, advocating misogyny contravenes Bill-13, the province’s new anti-bullying law. “Taking away a woman’s right to choose could arguably be considered one of the most misogynistic actions that one could take,” she said. Catholic educators have every right to bristle at the minister’s rhetoric. She apparently believes that when Catholic teachers use the catechism to profess that life begins at conception and abortion is immoral, they are teaching Catholic youth to hate women. The suggestion is ludicrous and reflects the very intolerance that prompted the minister’s own anti-bullying laws. A minister serious about confronting misogyny would investigate the rise in Canada of sex-selection abortion that targets females. Catholic education is not the problem. Catholic students are taught to respect life and love all. Catholic teachers are hardly women haters — they’re mostly women! To label them misogynists is as absurd as accusing ministers who send their kids to Catholic schools of being anti-Catholic. The cardinal’s other point was to underline again that Catholic education rights are enshrined in Canada’s Constitution and are protected in the provincial Education Act. The soon-to-be-retired premier or his education minister have no authority to make Catholic schools less Catholic by coercing them to abandon a core mission. Also, parents have a constitutionally protected right to send their children to publicly funded, faith-filled school environments that promote Catholic morals and values. “Both the Constitution and the Education Act make it clear that the Catholic identity of the school must be respected,” Collins said. “It is our mission to speak up for all those who suffer, and especially for those who are voiceless.” After using Bill-13 to force Catholic schools to accept gay-straight clubs, Broten now seems poised to use the bill to trample other religious freedom rights. That is very troubling. Will a pretext be devised to muzzle Church teachings on, say, divorce, same-sex marriage, contraception, chastity and fidelity? The bill was sold as a means to subdue bullies, not crush Catholic education. Broten repeatedly says she supports Catholic education. But it’s becoming increasingly unclear if she even knows what that is.

The best of both worlds

October 17, 2012

What is our favourite TV show? Do we allow our children to read and watch The Hunger Games? What style of clothing do we choose? How much time do we spend online, and how do we spend it? Every day, we are influenced by a culture that was rooted in Christianity but is now shaped by a radical secularism and a need for instant gratification. How are we as Catholics called to live in a culture that has not only forgotten its evangelical roots but often denigrates or even opposes them? St. Kateri Tekakwitha offers valuable insights into this question by her intense commitment to Jesus Christ at a time when native cultures were confronted and often oppressed by European cultures. Born of an Algonquin mother and Mohawk father, Kateri courageously bridged the gap between her own First Nations cultures and French Catholicism, embracing the best of both. Even her name highlights this characteristic: “Kateri” is a Mohawk version of the French “Catherine.” In embracing both her native heritage and Christianity, Kateri discovered and lived fully her deepest identity, expressing it in her total commitment to the Person of Christ. Kateri’s intense love for Christ inspired her to follow Him wholeheartedly, both in prayer and in works of charity. But her ardour stirred up the animosity of many in her home village. Initially petty, the hostility escalated into real persecution — from children taunting her and throwing rocks, to her family refusing to allow her to eat on Sundays when she took extra time to pray, to death threats. Instead of scaring her into a compromise, Kateri’s Mohawk upbringing inclined her to regard bravery in suffering as a sign of spiritual strength. She didn’t just accept suffering as part of life, but embraced it, wanting to share in the Cross of Christ for the sake of her people. Only after repeated death threats did Kateri reluctantly decide to flee to where she could live her faith freely. Upon arriving at Sault St. Louis, the Christian native village in present day Kahnawake, Kateri’s fervour in prayer and generous kindness quickly made her a spiritual leader. She loved to pray in the Jesuit chapel, arriving first for Mass early in the morning, but she also prayed in the outdoor “chapel” she created by carving a cross into a tree trunk. Even the austere penances she practised were an expression of her love for Christ. Kateri’s intense love for Jesus led her to embrace the counter-cultural call to virginity. Marriage was such an important value in her native culture that both in her home village and in the Christian village, Kateri faced innumerable pressures to marry. (Even her Jesuit mentors did not initially encourage her.) Her inexplicable fidelity to virginal chastity can only be explained by a call from God. As her understanding of Christian life matured, Kateri’s desire for chastity flowered into a vow of virginity. Kateri is the first native woman of North America known to make this vow. Virginity was her vocation, her “way of love” in the world, and only in becoming a Catholic could Kateri discover and live the fullness of her vocation. Immersed in her own culture, but not enslaved by it, Kateri’s reception of Christ’s saving love enabled her to develop her deepest identity. Affirming her First Nations heritage kept her rooted in her own culture, but also helped her follow a personal call and make the courageous choices for Baptism and consecrated virginity. St. Kateri is a remarkable model for how we can engage in our culture today. She showed us how to claim our own heritage, embracing the values that strengthen our deepest identity and foster our commitment to Christ; how to discerningly engage with culture, aware that our unique identity is shaped by culture and also by God; and how to view every people and culture with the eyes of Christ, discovering common human values and the seeds of the Gospel even in the midst of conflict. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, saint of the New Evangelization, pray for us!

The forgotten Vatican council

October 17, 2012

I’m going to date myself and admit that I was born after the Second Vatican Council. It is said that if you remember the 1960s, you weren’t really there. Well, I don’t remember them because I wasn’t at all there. I was just as non-existent during the Second Vatican Council as I was during the First Vatican Council, and during the Council of Trent before it, and all the other Councils. Thus I was never as excited about the Second Vatican Council as its contemporaries expected me to be. Today it is still discussed with breathless excitement as if, like Woodstock, it happened just yesterday, and what a shame we kids missed it. Any discussion of the Second Vatican Council without a close reading of its documents, reference to its controversies and acknowledgment of its critics is in danger of falling prey to Spirit-of-VaticanII-ism. Spirit-of-Vatican-II-ism is a belief that the council was, more than any other council in the history of the Church, a “New Pentecost” and that its documents are less important than the changes that followed in its wake, with or without their sanction. Spirit-of-Vatican-II-ism sets up “Vatican II” as an idol, synonymous with change and innovation, and condemns anything that happened in the Church between Constantine and Vatican II as bad and any papal document issued since as dangerous to what is called its spirit. I am not a Spirit-of-Vatican-II-ist, so I welcome this Year of Faith as an opportunity to examine not only the documents of the Second Vatican Council but the documents of the 20 general councils from which it descended. For example, the very name Second Vatican Council implies a First Vatican Council. I doubt it received the same attention as Vatican II. This is a pity for the First Vatican Council was the first general council after the Council of Trent, which is to say, in more than 300 years. The Council of Trent opened in 1545 and was finally adjourned in 1563, after several interruptions due to war. The First Vatican Council opened on Dec. 8, 1869, was suspended due to war on Oct. 20, 1870, and was formally closed 90 years later, in 1960, when plans for the Second Vatican Council were under way. The First Vatican Council was mother to the second. The Council of Trent dealt with the religious philosophies then dividing Western European Christianity, embracing those developments consistent with the Catholic faith and rejecting those innovations that were not. The First Vatican Council dealt with irreligious philosophies which directly attacked Christianity itself. These included uncritical rationalism, materialism and liberalism. Trent had to meet the challenges of the early Renaissance; opened 10 years after the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species, Vatican I proposed to meet the challenges of the modern world. It did so under perilous circumstances. Blessed Pius IX was not only pope but the temporal ruler of what was left of the papal states, including the city of Rome. As the wars for Italian territory raged, it appeared that the city could be annexed at any time. European leaders feared that Pius IX might use the council to define dogmatically the temporal authority of the pope to rule the papal states, thus enlisting Catholics worldwide to restore them. However, Pius IX had widespread personal popularlity, and most European powers decided not to interfere with the council. As a result, more than 700 bishops, superiors and generals of orders and abbots were able to attend. Unlike Trent, there were representatives from every continent at Vatican I, and 120 of the bishops were from English-speaking countries. English-speaking bishops had an influence in Church matters they had not had at Trent; one of the most influential voices of Vatican I belonged to the English Cardinal Manning. The temporal rulers of Catholic states were not invited, as they had been to Trent: this reflected the 19th-century movement towards a stricter separation of Church and state. And, quite unlike Trent, there were also journalists. As it would regarding the Second Vatican Council, the world took an interest in the deliberations of Vatican I, and newspapers concentrated on attention-grabbing controversies. The principal controversy was papal infallibility, which was dogmatically defined in the document Pastor Aeternus. The document, however, was not as much fun for the papers as their misleading narratives of conflict and power. It is not enough to hear popular narratives about a council; to be truly informed, we must read the actual documents. Thus, to truly grasp the First Vatican Council, read Dei Filius and Pastor Aeternus. They are both online.

Thanksgiving is a second Mother’s Day for me

October 17, 2012

Thanksgiving is always special because it is the day my parents were married many years ago and I take time to feel thankful for them, though they are both long departed. And this Thanksgiving weekend was extra special because we celebrated the 80th birthday of my wife’s mother. Though my own mother and my wife’s mother met only once, I have always felt a bond between them. They were raised very differently (one in the city, the other in the country) and they married men with polar opposite personalities. But the two women were similar in many ways; namely, they always put others first. My mom was a saint and my dad a character. It may not have been a marriage made in heaven, but it was certainly a love story lived on Earth that I am sure continues in heaven. In many ways, my parents were so different. She was a worker bee who wanted to get the job done (whatever the job), behind the scenes, away from the limelight. He was a free-spirit who loved the attention and often put a job around the house off until tomorrow. But he loved his wife beyond anything; even more than the racetrack, golf course or poker table. She died way too young at age 56. Her death was 15 years before his at age 73. Though he had some good years after her, he really was never the same on his own. In his later years, he once told me the best thing I could give my children was to love their mother above all else. I said, “Dad, of course, I do.” With an unfamiliar serious look on his face, he said, “Always put her first. Your love of her reflects to them.” On Thanksgiving, as I thought about my parents, I couldn’t help but think that he got to have more fun than she did. In some ways, he was a product of the times and a swashbuckling journalist in the 1950s and ’60s. There was a story when he was in Manhattan at a party at a swanky nightclub and he danced with Liz Taylor. The next morning, he called home to tell mom about the evening but she was scrubbing floors so my oldest brother had the conversation with him on the phone. He was about eight years old and he relayed the story to mom and then looked at her on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor, and said, “Mom, you’re just like Cinderella and daddy was at the ball.” In our family, given who our father was, teasing was a sport. Once, when I was upset over being teased, mom consoled me by saying it is okay to be teased because it means that person isn’t teasing someone else. A very Christian attitude that, unfortunately, I sometimes forget. Long ago, at Sunday dinner mom was getting teased by several of her seven children and she exasperatedly said: “How come women at the CWL, or at the beauty salon or our friends in the bowling league all like me but you guys treat me like this?” I was about 10 years old and I blurted out: “Mom, they just don’t know you like we do!” They say there is a grain of truth in any joke, but she knew there was no truth in that one and she smiled. Later, I heard her tell that story on more than one occasion. This brings me back to this past Thanksgiving weekend. It started with a birthday dinner for my wife’s mother with her children, grandchildren and her brothers and their wives at the table. Then the next night she took 10 of her family to the production of War Horse and also paid for the dinner at a fancy restaurant. We tried to pay but she just shook her head and said: “This is my birthday present to myself. I am paying.” She has done things like this regularly for the 30 years I’ve known her and it is just another example of how she puts others first, just like my mom did. And it’s one of the reasons I have never, ever referred to her as my “mother-in-law” because of the negative connotations associated with that phrase. She is my second mother, period. And how many people are lucky enough to have two fantastic mothers in one lifetime? That’s why Thanksgiving is a second Mother’s Day for me.

Hypocrisy plentiful

October 17, 2012

Surely nobody seriously believed that Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s bill concerning the definition of life would receive majority support in the House of Commons. It may have been intelligent, informed and balanced, and Woodworth may be a gentle, eminently civilized man, but we discovered long ago that anything even remotely related to abortion activates the grotesquely misnamed pro-choice lobby into screaming fanatics. As happened after Woodworth’s bill, when Liberal and NDP MPs reacted as though someone had asked Parliament to deny the Holocaust. The most absurd, even hilarious, spectacle was NDP deputy leader Libby Davies — an obsessive “anti-Zionist” who has also delivered petitions to Ottawa speaking of a 9/11 conspiracy — demanding that Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose resign because she dared to vote in support of the bill. Irony abounds. A woman with an independent mind and strong character who has long championed women victims in the Islamic world decides to vote in a specific way and is condemned for betraying women because she did not do what she was told. Now the paradox of the abortion movement has taken a further step towards insanity with MP Mark Warawa private member’s motion condemning sex-selective abortions. He claimed he had no choice after reading an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal demonstrating that such abortions were quite common in various immigrant communities in Canada. Well of course they are. And even more common in the Asian countries where those communities generally originate. Archaic misogyny mingles with new technology, and if an ultrasound reveals that a little girl is in the mother’s womb, an abortion will take place almost immediately. As actor Sasha Baron Cohen said in the execrable movie The Dictator, “Is it a boy, or an abortion?” But here’s the point. Why is this an issue, why does it matter and who cares? If the unborn child is a fetus, mere tissue, a totally dependent non-human with no rights, privileges or dignity, and if the mother is the sole arbiter in deciding whether that non-person is ever born, how can it be relevant if gender is the reason for the kill? Catholics oppose abortion on three levels. Science tells us life begins at conception because at that startlingly early stage the baby has a totally distinct DNA and genomic character, and that no other beginning point for life is scientifically credible. Morality tells us the more vulnerable the life, the more we have to protect it, and that those who are powerless require the protection and not the indifference of those who do possess power. Christ tells us that we are all made in the image of God and that the soul exists even in these tiny unborn children. Pro-aborts dismiss all of this of course, but then become terribly upset when the choice for abortion is based on the child not being a boy. They should be reminded that abortion because the baby is disabled in some way is even more common, and that black and brown women are often under extreme pressure to abort as well. The latter two obscenities haven’t moved feminists and liberals yet, largely because they can’t personalise them. With gender-based killing, however, it all becomes poignantly immediate. It might be repugnant, but I’d have more respect for them if they were consistent in their error and defended abortion for any reason. But they simply can’t have it both ways, and this is what makes this particular subject so significant for the pro-life movement. Most people, even beyond gender feminists, viscerally know that opting to end a life of an unborn child because she is a little girl is putrid. Once they assimilate that, they have to conclude that life exists in the womb and that death due to gender is no less horrible than death due to race, ability or the convenience or even fear of the woman carrying that child. These are fascinating and encouraging times for those of us who care about life, and frankly I didn’t think we’d get here yet. The hypocrites will doubtless defeat this bill as well, but every attempt pushes the war closer to the enemy’s gates and obliges the neutrals to ask where they really stand.

Faith is the deciding factor

October 17, 2012

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Oct. 28 (Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52) Jeremiah was not the happiest of prophets. His anger, gloom and frustration pervade the book that bears his name — he was a bit over the top, even for a prophet. In light of the stubborn and sometimes violent resistance that he faced, his reactions are understandable. He prophesied from 626 BC to the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC at the hands of the Babylonians. During this time Israel was being continually bullied by two superpowers, Egypt and Babylon, so a catastrophe of some sort seemed inevitable. Among all of the predictions of disaster, however, was a beautiful promise of hope. Despite the destruction and disruption that Israel was going to undergo, God had not abandoned them. The image of a parent was used: parents stand by their children even when they do stupid things or make a mess of their lives. Love is not conditional on good behaviour or success. God’s promise to Israel was restoration and redemption, not a free pass to escape the impending tribulations. After Israel had passed through its purifying experience, God would lead them back — showing the scars of their struggle to be sure. The promise makes it very clear that no one will be left out: the blind and the lame, as well as those bearing children will be treated exactly the same. It is far too easy to be swallowed up in the negative energy and fear of current events and to give up hope. Regardless of what happens, God is there and God is working unceasingly on our behalf. Jeremiah’s prophecies have much to tell us today about remaining faithful to God in the way we conduct our lives, but even more so about keeping faith and hope in a very scary world. One of the most potent and dangerous drugs of all is power. It has brought many to ruin, both those who abuse power and those who are their victims. In the religious realm the potential for abuse is even greater for words and actions are cloaked in God-language and existential fear. The author of Hebrews pointed out that any high priest worthy of the name is deeply aware of his own weaknesses and faults — he stands with and on behalf of the people, not over them and above them. Although He was sinless, the life of Jesus was a sterling model of how not to abuse power as well as the secret of being an effective and compassionate shepherd of souls. Jesus faced temptations and the limits of life in the body. His life was marked by struggle and suffering. This enabled Him to relate to us with empathy and compassion. The greatest abuses of religious power have occurred when individuals forget their own humanity with all of its flaws and imperfections. It is difficult to be harsh with others when we are aware of how much we are in desperate need of God’s grace and mercy. God’s mercy was most evident in the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who spent most of his time by the roadside in hopes of offerings from passersby. In the snatches of conversations that he overheard, one name seemed to be on the lips of many: Jesus of Nazareth. When he realized that the great man was nearby he began to shout and beg for mercy. His lack of physical sight was offset by spiritual insight as he recognized the Messianic credentials of Jesus as Son of David. There were many who tried in vain to shut him up: what right did he have, especially as a blind beggar, to bother someone of the stature of Jesus? The man would not be put off by the naysayers and guardians of propriety and he shouted all the more. His persistence was rewarded, for Jesus called to him. Jesus respected the man’s freedom by asking him what he wanted rather than imposing a solution to his problem, to which he responded with a request for restored sight. This was immediately granted but it was clear that faith was the deciding factor. Throughout the New Testament, this faith is understood as absolute confidence in God’s compassion and mercy even in the face of resistance, suffering, darkness or obstacles. Praying boldly and persistently is both an act of faith and courage.

Oct. 22 vs. Oct. 16

October 17, 2012

The days are quite significant in our Church’s history As the present grows more distant from the past, what actually happened becomes confused with what people think happened. Even pious priests fall victim to the temptation. Take, for example, Fr. C. John McCloskey III. He wrote this recently about the election of Blessed John Paul II: “In 1978, when I was preparing for the priesthood in Rome, I had the privilege of being present in St. Peter’s Square when the newly chosen Pope John Paul II came out on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and addressed the crowd by quoting Our Lord’s words ‘Ne Timeas’ (Do not be afraid). I, along with the rest of the throng present, somehow sensed that the world was going to be different under this man who came ‘from a far country,’ as he put it.” But it seems McCloskey’s memory is playing tricks on him. First, when Karol Wojtyla appeared on the balcony just after his election on Oct. 16, 1978, he did not speak in Latin. In fact, what was remarkable about the balcony appearance was the new Pope’s decision to speak to the crowd in Italian, rather than restrict himself to the traditional Latin blessing alone. The speech was memorable in part because the pope asked the Romans to correct him if he made a mistake in “your … no, our” Italian language. Second, John Paul did not say “be not afraid” on the balcony. That was the key line from the homily at the inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square several days later. Third, the late Holy Father never said “ne timeas,” which is Latin. The homily was delivered in Italian. And what he said in Italian was “non abbiate paura” — second person plural — which would be “nolite timere” (second person plural) in Latin, not “ne timeas” (second person singular). What’s the big deal? Why quibble over details? It’s not really about Fr. McCloskey. He is a well-known commentator, but sadly typical of many people who confuse Oct. 16 and Oct. 22. How many times have you heard that John Paul’s first pontifical words were “be not afraid”? Hardly. After the election of Oct. 16, he addressed the college of cardinals (Oct. 19), the diplomatic corps (Oct. 20) and then held a press conference (Oct. 21). “Be not afraid” was on Oct. 22. It matters to get that history straight now that John Paul is beatified. The Church has assigned him Oct. 22 as his feast day, not the day of his death. A similar thing was done for Blessed John XXIII, who was assigned Oct. 11, the day of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and his famous address, Gaudet Mater Ecclesia — Mother Church Rejoices! Oct. 22 was chosen for Blessed John Paul precisely because of the “be not afraid” homily delivered that historic Roman day. Moreover, that homily is part of the divine office for the feast, excerpted in the Office of Readings. Get the history confused and the point of the feast day is lost. It’s especially important in the month of the October, where the Church gives us an embarrassment of riches in terms of feasts. The month begins with two of the most popular saints in all Christian history, Therese of Lisieux (Oct. 1) and Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4), with the Guardian Angels in between (Oct. 2). Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 7) follows soon after, with the evangelist Luke (Oct. 18) and the apostles Simon and Jude (Oct. 28) also celebrated. Then there is the curious case of Teresa of Avila, who died during the night between Oct. 4 and Oct. 15. It was a most unusual night, because in 1582 the calendar was adjusted by Gregory XIII, removing 10 days from it. Her feast day is observed Oct. 15. With three recent blesseds, the Church departed from her usual practice of assigning the death anniversary as the feast day. Cardinal Newman (Oct. 9) was assigned the day of his conversion to Catholicism, and John XXIII (Oct. 11) and John Paul II (Oct. 22) were given significant days of their pontificates. The liturgical calendar illustrates how holiness is rooted in history. That’s why it matters to get Oct. 22 right, when those history-shaping and life-changing words rang out: “Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept His power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To His saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows ‘that which is in man’. He alone knows it.”

October 18

Egypt's nuncio: Christian complaints valid, but signs of freedom exist

October 18, 2012

WASHINGTON - Some of Egypt's Christians feel uncomfortable with Islamists in power, but there is greater freedom of speech than before the revolution, said the Pope's ambassador to the Middle Eastern country. "I think there is a greater freedom now, though they accuse the present regime of also clamping down on people, on trying to control the press ... so they say that the president is becoming a pharaoh," the Vatican nuncio, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, told Catholic News Service. "Christians are feeling uncomfortable and certainly the Salafi group," an ultraconservative sect of Islam, "is showing ... disrespect for Christians," he said during a mid-October visit to Washington. "There are complaints and, I would say, they are genuine complaints." The archbishop said that often what begins as a conflict over property or family affairs turns religious and "ends up with people having their houses burned or their shops destroyed or their place of worship also attacked." "It's easy to arouse a group of Muslims against the Christians, and there can be also a reaction on the Christian side," he said, adding, "The thing is that people are rather hot-tempered and they don't reason very much before they react." When there is a problem, he said, Christians feel "that the security forces don't come in time, they always come late, and, very often, they hold reconciliation sessions and the Christians are always the losers. "They would prefer to have people brought to trial and to be condemned ... to have their full rights," he said. After Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011, an Egyptian military council assumed broad powers. Sixteen months later, Mohammed Morsi of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood was elected Egypt's new president. During those 16 months, the Church sponsored seminars and lectures to encourage awareness of parties and issues. Cairo's justice and peace commission also sponsored candidate forums, the archbishop said. Morsi has finished his first 100 days in office, and critics say he has not kept most of his promises about what he would achieve in that time. Egyptians also are awaiting a court ruling on whether the assembly drafting the country's new constitution is legal. Members of Parliament chose members of the assembly, and some Egyptians argue that the assembly does not reflect all sectors of society. The court has said it will issue its ruling Oct. 23. Fitzgerald said these were signs of emerging democracy. "Certainly people are ready to criticize the president and to say 'Look, you promised many things, and you're not fulfilling your promises,' ” he said, noting that probably would not have happened before the revolution. He said he is trying to encourage Christians to participate in the new democracy, although some express fear for what the future holds for their children. "My own message to them has been, look, there is a new spirit of democracy, and you have to build on that. Though the Islamists are in power now, this doesn't mean to say that they will always be in power. This depends on you," he said.

PQ’s ‘medical aid in dying’ sugarcoats euthanasia, foes say

October 18, 2012

OTTAWA - Anti-euthanasia groups are pushing back against Parti Quebecois plans to bring in euthanasia under the euphemistic guise of “medical aid in dying.” Quebec grassroots group Living with Dignity director Linda Couture said the PQ is masking its euthanasia plans behind the words medical aid in dying without defining them, she said. “Does it mean (lethally) injecting people or not?” Couture expressed alarm at how fast the government is moving, noting the new government hopes to have a bill passed by June next year. In early October, radio station CJAD reported Parti Quebecois junior social services minister Veronique Hivon hoped to introduce legislation soon to help people who face unbearable end-of-life suffering. Though euthanasia and assisted suicide are both illegal in Canada’s Criminal Code, and under federal jurisdiction, Hivon said health is a provincial matter. The province could also direct Crown prosecutors not to prosecute cases that fall under the guidelines for medical aid in dying, she said. Couture said using health care and directing prosecutors in this manner is bringing in “euthanasia through the back door” while hiding behind a vague, nice-sounding phrase. The province’s plans to move in this direction stem from recommendations of an all-party Dying with Dignity committee that held hearings across Quebec and released a report last March, Couture said. Though 60 per cent of the presenters to this committee opposed euthanasia and assisted suicide, the committee’s report recommended “medical assistance in dying” for those suffering and close to death. It ignored grassroots rejection of euthanasia and assisted suicide, Couture said. “Everybody’s in favour of palliative care. Let’s work on what unites us not what divides us.” Couture dared the small group of physicians who are pushing for euthanasia to put their faces on a public poster the way members of a new anti-euthanasia physicians’ organization has. The Physicians’ Alliance for Total Refusal of Euthanasia is led by the renowned Dr. Balfour Mount, considered the father of palliative care in Canada. His organization boasts 24 prominent physicians who have allowed their pictures to be published. “We are physicians who see any law allowing doctors to intentionally end the life of their patients as contrary to the goals of medicine and the good of our patients, especially the most vulnerable and those who cannot speak for themselves,” says the group’s web site. “We intend to make known to the public the grave dangers inherent in such a law.” At its web site, the group has a declaration and petition for both doctors and concerned citizens to circulate and send to their provincial representatives. “To provoke death voluntarily, by lethal injection or any other method, cannot be considered under any circumstance as ‘medical care’ and is contrary to medical ethics,” the declaration reads. “It is never necessary to kill a patient in order to end his or her suffering.” Euthanas ia Prevention Coalition director Alex Schadenberg said Quebec’s sleight of hand could bring in Belgium-style euthanasia and its lack of safeguards. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that one-third of euthanasia deaths in Belgium were done without explicit request or consent. If medical aid in dying means doctor’s giving patients lethal injections, that is euthanasia, he said. Doctors writing prescriptions for patients knowing they will use the drugs to kill themselves is doctor-assisted suicide. The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) said Hivon’s plans to introduce a bill are not a surprise because it was part of the Parti Quebecois’ platform. But she questioned whether the government listened to palliative care experts or the democratic results of the Dying with Dignity consultations. “Medicine, today, can control almost any pain,” said COLF director Michele Boulva. “And, in extreme cases, palliative sedation can be used to relieve patients.” The pro-euthanasia lobby has been trying to show Belgium-style euthanasia is working well, she said, but a group of Belgian professionals said in a manifesto signed last June that the slippery slope they had warned of 10 years ago when Belgium decriminalized euthanasia had become a reality. “We are now very worried by suggestions that minors and mentally ill people could also be euthanized,” the manifesto says. “As we expected, once the prohibition has been lifted, we are rapidly moving towards the banalisation of euthanasia.” “Can you even imagine teaching future doctors how to kill?” Boulva asked. “COLF encourages Quebec Catholics and all people who have any respect for the inalienable dignity and worth of all human beings to contact their elected members of the Assemblée nationale, asking them with insistence to oppose any attempt to legalize euthanasia. This lethal practice must not enter our hospitals.”

Pope sends cardinals to Syria to promote peace, show solidarity

October 18, 2012

VATICAN CITY - A papal delegation of bishops will travel to the capital of wartorn Syria in late October to show solidarity with victims and encourage peace negotiations. "In the certainty that the only possible solution to the crisis is a political solution, and bearing in mind the immense suffering of the population, the fate of displaced persons, and the future of that nation, it has been suggested that our synodal assembly express its solidarity," said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, who announced the visit at the world Synod of Bishops. Syria's civil war has left thousands dead and has displaced hundreds of thousands of refugees since March 2011. The cardinal said that Pope Benedict XVI had instructed a delegation of six bishops and a priest to express, on behalf of the Pope and the synod, "our fraternal solidarity with the entire population"; "our spiritual closeness to our Christian brothers and sisters"; and "our encouragement to all those involved in seeking an agreement that respects the rights and duties of all, with particular attention to the demands of humanitarian law." Bertone gave no date for the trip, but said it would take place next week, after completion of the "necessary formalities" with the papal nuncio and the "local authorities" in Damascus. He also mentioned that the delegation would bring a "personal offering from the synod fathers as well as from the Holy See," which the Vatican press office later confirmed would take the form of a financial contribution. Members of the delegation will be New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Congolese Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Bishop Fabio Suescun Mutis, the military ordinary of Colombia, Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang of Phat Diem, Vietnam, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secretary for relations with states, and Msgr. Alberto Ortega, an official of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Dolan, chairman of the board of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, said he was "honoured" that the Pope had chosen to send him to Syria. "There can be no question but that the violence in this strife-torn country is causing immense suffering," Dolan said, "and it is the hope of the bishops of the synod that this display of pastoral concern on the part of Pope Benedict might help draw the world's attention even more closely to this unspeakable tragedy." Another synod member, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., said that one purpose of the visit will be "to look, to listen, to try to see and understand better what is going on and how the Church can be helpful." "But it's also a way of saying to people that we are concerned, that we are here in solidarity with you," said Kicanas, chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, which is aiding Syrian refugees in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. "We hope to make known to the international community what the situation is and that the international community must step up and address this very serious situation," the bishop said.

Our native saint: Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawk

October 18, 2012

The Catholic Register is proud to continue our Year of Faith coverage by celebrating the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native North American woman to become a saint. We have produced this special section that highlights her life of faith, courage and hope. There are two ways to read the articles. You can view the articles in the embedded reader below as they were printed in the newspaper . Click the "Expand" button in the centre of the player to go full-screen for the best reader experience. You can then zoom in on specific pages with the magnifying glass button or by using the scroll wheel on your mouse. Click to the side to navigate through the pages and press the ESC key on your keyboard to exit. [issuu width=420 height=258 printButtonEnabled=false backgroundColor=%23222222 documentId=121018202102-3c059b87113a4d82ba02989f22b40f1a name=kateri username=catholicregister tag=special unit=px v=2] You can also enjoy the articles on CatholicRegister.org. Over the weekend, we'll be adding articles below for readers to browse.

Dignity of the human key in all health decisions

October 18, 2012

TORONTO - What makes a hospital, nursing home or hospice Catholic isn’t the cross in the lobby. It is the decisions made in each and every examination room, operating theatre, boardroom and clinic. More than 100 Catholic health care institutions in Canada have just received a new guide to help them make those decisions. The third edition of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada’s Health Ethics Guide has been almost five years in the making and thoroughly updates the 2000 edition. The Canadian book is fundamentally different from the Ethical and Religious Directives manual produced by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said contributing editor Sr. Nuala Kenny. Rather than a legalistic code of forbidden acts gleaned from Catholic moral theology, the new Health Ethics Guide begins with goals and ideals shared by doctors, nurses, administrators in all Catholic institutions, she said. “The fact of the matter is that the most important thing for those who are in Catholic health care is their self-identification that health care is not simply a business or a service like any other,” said Kenny. “It is the continuation of the healing and reconciling mission of Jesus Christ. This is a recommitment to that notion.” The recommitment starts with Scripture. The Health Ethics Guide begins with the parable of the Good Samaritan. “The Good Samaritan has every element of contemporary health care,” said Kenny. “It has the questions about who is your neighbour? Where are the needs? Today, what are the unmet needs?” The best part of the Canadian guide is that it isn’t produced by outsiders and then imposed on Catholic health institutions, said Kenny, a retired pediatrician, professor of medicine and professor of medical ethics. “This is produced by people who are in the trenches,” she said. The central idea that drives the Health Ethics Guide is the inherent dignity of every human being, said Bishop Noel Simard of Valleyfield, Que. Simard is a former professor of moral theology who served as part of the writing team on the guide. “It is not because you have the capacity to make decisions that you have dignity,” Simard told a Catholic Health Association of Ontario convention where the new Health Ethics Guide was launched Oct. 11 in Toronto. “It is because you are human.” If the dignity of the human is central to every decision in health care, then certain conclusions are unavoidable, he said. “Because we are Catholic and we try to follow the Gospel, we have a duty of special care to the poor, the weak and the vulnerable,” he said. “We need to look at the common good.” There’s no big news regarding settled issues from abortion to assisted suicide, said Kenny. “If you compare this to the previous version, there’s nothing new and groundbreaking in the sense of a new teaching,” she said. But the guide does offer concrete help to institutions looking to foster a Catholic identity in a situation where not everyone working for the hospital is Catholic and not everyone served by the hospital is Catholic. The guide bears the Nihil Obstat of the permanent council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is published by the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, distributed by Novalis. The 162-page softcover book sells for $20.

Single Catholics connect through speed dating

October 18, 2012

TORONTO - Faith Connections and the Newman Young Adult Ministry are co-hosting “A Date to Remember,” a Catholic speed dating event where single adults can gather and get to know one another. Speed dating is an activity where participants spend four to five minutes chatting with a person before moving along to the next person. Organizers offer a list of suggested questions to help participants during each session. Then participants use scorecards placed in envelopes to let organizers know with whom they wish to share their contact information. Geared towards Catholic singles between the ages of 19 and 39, A Date to Remember draws people who are formerly and currently affiliated with the University of Toronto and the Newman Centre. “We have young adults asking for an event like this so we try to include that yearly,” said Kelly Bourke, interim program director for Faith Connections, a branch of Fontbonne Ministries. Both ministries are preparing to hold their third collaborated speed dating event on Oct. 27 at the Newman Centre. The first speed dating night was held last summer. While there are many socials and mixers hosted by both ministries throughout the year, speed dating provides a special venue for single Catholics. “It’s an opportunity for singles to help develop new friendships that could develop into something else,” said Gem Ofreneo from the Newman Young Adult Ministry. Kevin Lo, 27, participated in A Date to Remember after learning about it from a Faith Connections newsletter. “I was a bit hesitant at first because of its non-traditional approach for finding a potential spouse, but I decided to give it a try,” Lo said. “I thought it would be a good chance to meet some new people and, particularly, fellow young Catholics.” Space is limited due to the size of the venue and organizers have had to turn people away in the past. “During the first year it was easy to have women sign on right from the beginning when we advertised,” Bourke said. “(With) the men, there were still spaces in the final week. This year I see men and women signing up (from the start).” “I had never attended a speed dating event before so I didn’t really know what to expect,” Lo said. “However, the event was well organized. The organizers and volunteers did a great job in making the participants feel welcome and comfortable.” These events provide a friendly and low-pressure environment for participants. “Men were saying that it takes the pressure off of asking someone for their phone number,” Ofreneo said. While exclusive to Catholic singles, the dance that follows is open to all young adults. The dance also works as a fundraiser where proceeds will go to the two ministries to fund other activities such as Newman’s outreach programs. The organizers aim not only to fulfill young adults’ requests for such events, but also to host them in a way that upholds Catholic values. “Ultimately we say when it comes to something like speed dating... can we bring something there that allows a really healthy and faith-filled idea of meeting new people without perhaps the agenda of ‘Do they make my list?’ ” said Bourke. She hopes participants will be “open to the possibilities of friendship (and) romance,” and will “be able to be open to truly meeting new people.” “It’s core to our faith how we connect to other people as strangers, as friends or otherwise.” Ofreneo encourages single young adults to attend, “but not with the goal in mind of getting a date right away, but to start new friendships and go from there and see where that goes.” Lo recommends the event. “Regardless of whether you find that special someone, there is a chance that you may develop many new friendships,” he said. Lo advises participants to keep an open mind and to pray before and after the event. “View all ‘dates’ and potential matches as brothers and sisters in Christ,” Lo said. “Be yourself, have fun and smile.” (Bernardo, 26, lives in Toronto, Ont.)

CCCB to outsource publishing division

October 18, 2012

OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will outsource its in-house publishing division and cut the position of senior advisor on social justice. “No area of the conference is not affected by the effort to cut down expenses and maximize productivity,” said CCCB General Secretary Msgr. Patrick Powers. “We have had to rethink the way we do things, to do more and to cost less. “For many y e a r s the bishops have been grappling with finances,” he said. “The dioceses cannot afford to pay the amount of money required to keep the conference running.” The per capita rate charged each diocese based on Census data of baptized Catholics has remained unchanged this year, but some poorer dioceses are having trouble meeting their assessment, he said. Powers said he has met with CCCB employees to explain the fact the conference does not have unrestricted funds and must rein in spending “or the bank will close our doors.” “It’s always so difficult to see people lose their jobs,” he said. “The bishops don’t take that lightly.” Details of the outsourcing will be revealed later next month after the arrangements are finalized, he said, noting eight to 10 jobs could be affected. The bishops have been studying the issue of CCCB Publications for 15 years, Powers said. The key, however, was finding a reputable North American company with a reputation for treating its employees well, he said. “It is a communications firm we have dealt with in the past,” he said. The position occupied by Francois Poitras, the senior advisor for social justice, has also been eliminated, said Powers. Among his duties, Poitras occupied the position of secretary to the Justice and Peace Commission. Powers said many aspects of the CCCB secretariat’s operation have needed updating, especially its technological infrastructure.

October 19

Canonization rite changed to preserve integrity of Mass, monsignor says

October 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY - In a continuing effort to preserve the integrity of the Mass and highlight the meaning of a canonization, when Pope Benedict XVI declares seven new saints Oct. 21, the ceremony will look different than it has in the past. Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, said the change will mark another step in Pope Benedict's efforts to remove from the papal Mass elements that are not strictly part of the liturgy, in accordance with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Earlier, the Pope stopped giving new cardinals their rings during Mass; and in June he started the practice of giving new archbishops a pallium — a woolen band around their necks — before the entrance antiphon of the Mass. In a similar way, beginning Oct. 21, the canonization rite will take place before Mass begins. "Canonization is basically a canonical act" through which the Pope exercises his ministry to teach and to legislate, Marini told L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. "In effect, a canonization is a definitive sentence through which the supreme pontiff decrees that a servant of God, already listed among the blessed, is to be inscribed in the catalogue of saints and venerated in the universal church," the monsignor said. "The authority exercised by the Pope in a canonization sentence will now be even more visible through the use of certain ritual elements," particularly through the Pope's triple invocation of God's help in making such an important decision, he said. Marini said the distinction between the canonization rite and the celebration of the Mass is meant to respond to the Second Vatican Council's call for the "splendour of the noble simplicity" of the Mass to shine forth. The seven women and men who will be proclaimed saints with the new ceremony are: -- Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a native American who was born in upstate New York and died in Canada in 1680 at the age of 24. -- Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai, who led a group of sisters from New York to the Hawaiian Islands in 1883 to establish a system of nursing care for leprosy patients. -- Blessed Peter Calungsod, a lay catechist from the Philippines who was martyred April 2, 1672, in Guam. -- Blessed Jacques Berthieu, a Jesuit who was born near Polminhac, France, and was martyred June 8, 1896, in Ambiatibe, Madagascar. -- Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth for men and the Humble Servants of the Lord for women. He died in 1913. -- Blessed Carmen Salles Barangueras, the Spanish founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. She died in 1911. -- Blessed Anna Schaffer, a lay German woman who wanted to be a missionary, but could not because of a succession of physical accidents and diseases. She died in 1925.

The dentist and the divine

October 19, 2012

During elementary school, my smile was a dental nightmare. The question was not whether I needed braces, but when I would get them. The answer to that was Grade 10. And although I was afraid and uncertain about how this would all play out, hindsight has shown me that dental treatment complemented my faith life. As soon as I received my braces, I was slapped with a list of things that I could and could not eat, and habits I would have to pick up to make sure my teeth were taken care of properly. After appointments with my orthodontist, my teeth and mouth would ache for at least a few hours, sometimes for days. On top of that, I was told that I would have to wear braces — and all the rules and pain that came with them — for at least two years. As time passed, luckily for me, things became easier to bear, and I began to notice that my dental work shared similarities with my faith. Sometimes people think that being Catholic restrains you because of all the different rules you’re asked to follow. I knew these rules were far from restraining; they were guiding principles that led me towards goodness and God, the greatest good. I realized that, like the commandments, the rules given to me with my braces were there for my benefit, to prevent me from hindering the treatment. Unless I followed them, the braces would leave scars or be ineffective. I better understood St. Paul when he wrote, “You are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). That’s not to say that we can disobey the commandments, but it means that by grace we can live a faithful life within the boundaries they set. Realizing this changed my prayer life, as I began to pray often for the grace to make certain good actions habitual. Reflecting on the pain I sometimes felt because of my braces, I understood that suffering in my life ultimately made me a stronger person. Just as my teeth were only straightened after enduring pain, my virtues were tested and strengthened by trials and suffering. I could only trust in God’s wisdom during these times, and this trustful surrender to Divine Providence became a source of great peace for me. Having braces also taught me that change comes slowly. It may have taken two years, but God definitely made my crooked teeth straight. As St. Francis de Sales said, “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” Growing in patience, in my prayer life, in my trust in God and in any virtue takes time to accomplish. I won’t be able to make good habits and positive change without a continual effort, but “Patience obtains all things,” said St. Teresa of Avila. “The crooked shall be made straight” (Lk 3:5) if we’re patient enough to let God straighten what needs straightening. (Pereira, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Brebeuf College School in Toronto.)

Fogarty awards honour Ontario Catholic students of the year

October 19, 2012

TORONTO - In March of 2011, Toronto student Isabel Ng-Lai took part in a service trip to India, where she volunteered at two schools run by the Loreto Sisters. It was an eye-opening trip that also helped her to be named Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School’s Catholic student of the year. Ng-Lai was one of the 100 Ontario students who was to be recognized Oct. 20 at the 29th Annual Patrick Fogarty Awards Dinner. The dinner celebrates students at each Ontario Catholic high school who provide “service to community, service to their Church, service to their parish and service to their parents,” said Michael Monk, executive secretary of the Catholic Education Foundation of Ontario, which sponsors the awards. “We feel we need to recognize the good things that are going on in Catholic high schools,” said Monk. Ng-Lai went to India for a month with Adventure Learning Experiences. She volunteered at Loreto Sealdah and Loreto Panighatta, where she learned about the local culture and students’ daily lives. “I had the opportunity to teach English and art to class 3 and 4 students. They were an absolute joy to teach, very respectful and hardworking, which I think is a testament to what the Loreto Sisters are doing in their schools,” she said. Of the 49 students under her tutelage, Ng-Lai recalls accompanying one student on her hour-long walk home from school. “She told me that when she grew up, she wanted to be like me and volunteer abroad to help children in Africa. It was a pivotal moment in my life because I came to the realization that my actions could inspire others,” said Ng-Lai. “Many of these students are street children or come from families who suffer from extreme poverty. I tried to pass on the message to my students that they can break the cycle of poverty through education. They should always strive to achieve their full potential.” When Ng-Lai returned home, she and a friend founded the non-profit organization 1Focus that chooses a specific cause each year, alternating between international and local. “Last year 1Focus raised $8,000 for Loreto Panighata,” she said. “The funds will help expand the educational system and provide the opportunity for underprivileged children to attend school on a full-time basis.” This year, 1Focus is raising funds for two youth homeless shelters, Eva’s Initiatives and Pathway. “One of the main things I learned from my trip is that children are the same everywhere, they need affection, love to play with their peers and are very curious. So if children are the same everywhere, then they should be given equal rights,” she said. Ng-Lai is now a first year student at York University’s Schulich School of Business. Chris Harrison is also among this year’s Fogarty Award winners. The Grade 12 student at Burlington, Ont.’s Corpus Christi Secondary School was recognized for his efforts at home and abroad. He has been an altar server since Grade 6 at St. Raphael’s parish, where he’s also served as a eucharistic minister. This year, he took part in his school’s Hope trip to the Dominican Republic. “I’ve been to a lot of places,” said Harrison, “but that was definitely one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.” Harrison recalls that the locals were strong in their faith. “It’s nice to see the smiles everywhere, even though they had so much less than us,” he said. “It really brought you down to earth.” At the awards dinner, the CEFO’s medal of honour was to be presented to Archbishop Paul- André Durocher. And the Michael Carty Awards, financial grants of up to $2,000 each, were to be presented to eight elementary and secondary schools for proposing “innovative and engaging programs or projects” in their Catholic school environment.