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January 2013

January 9

Mexico has changed, but maybe not for better, says bishop

January 9, 2013

SALTILLO, Mexico - Although church-state relations have thawed in the past 25 years, Saltillo Bishop Raul Vera Lopez said he remains dissatisfied with government restrictions on religion.

Wrong tactic

January 9, 2013

Canada’s First Nations have legitimate grievances that warrant sympathy and government action, but hunger strikes are an unacceptable tactic to bring about change.

Encountering faith on our way

January 9, 2013

A young couple was crossing the Atlantic by boat. During the trip, they got to know their fellow passengers, some of whom were Christians. The couple were atheists, and having Christian friends was a new experience for them. They were astonished to discover that people of faith could also be people of intelligence and sense. Then, they were astounded to realize that they’d always assumed otherwise. Why shouldn’t faith and intelligence go together?

Jesus heralds the dawning of a new age

January 9, 2013

Second Week in Ordinary Time (Year C) Jan. 20 (Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 96; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-12) What is in a name? More than we might think! The ancients believed that a person’s name was a reflection of their nature and the direction of their life. The Old Testament is filled with odd names and mid-life name changes that reflected changing relationships with God.

A presidential holiday season

January 9, 2013

This New Year opened with a distinctly presidential flavour. First, I saw the two hit movies about U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. (Both I highly recommend, especially Lincoln.) Second, I received two fascinating books: The Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson and The Words Lincoln Lived By from Lincoln historian Gene Griessman.

A beautiful beginning to the New Year

January 9, 2013

The Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar complained passionately about the disappearance of beauty from philosophy and theology. By the 19th century there had arisen in the human mind artificial divisions among truth, goodness and beauty. By the 20th, theologians stopped writing about the beauty of God. Balthasar tried to make up for this with his seven-volume work, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics.

Glimpsing holiness through the joy of sport

January 9, 2013

AVE MARIA, FLORIDA - Notre Dame football brings together religion and sports in a particularly pleasing way, and for this football chaplain to be on hand in Miami for the college football national championship — Notre Dame vs. Alabama — was a blessing most pleasing indeed. It was a more conflicted blessing after the opening kickoff, from which point Alabama administered a severe beating to Notre Dame en route to its third national championship in four years.

Up against status quo

January 9, 2013

The year 2013 is going to be challenging for Catholics, but then even metaphorical martyrdom is not necessarily a bad thing. Not that I long for suffering — I want to die in my bed, aged 95, surrounded by chocolate — but complacency tends to breed indifference if not contempt, especially where faith is concerned.

U.S. Supreme Court lets stand policy on embryonic stem-cell research funds

January 9, 2013

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 7 let stand a lower court order allowing government funding of research involving certain embryonic stem-cell lines.

January 10

Zero Dark Thirty

January 10, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia) offers moviegoers a challenging account, based on real events, of the decade-long hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

German Church ends sex-abuse research inquiry, citing lack of trust

January 10, 2013

BERLIN - Germany's Catholic Church has withdrawn from an inquiry into sexual abuse by clergy, citing a breakdown of trust with researchers.

Canada's Maronite Catholics get a new leader

January 10, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI named the priest in charge of co-ordinating his papal visit to Lebanon to head the Maronite Catholic community in Canada.

CCCB offers blessings to PM, First Nations meeting

January 10, 2013

OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wants something substantial to come out of the Jan. 11 meeting between the government and indigenous leaders.

Visiting bishops note strain recent events placed on Mideast countries

January 10, 2013

JERUSALEM - Bishops who traveled to the Holy Land to assess the local church's needs noted the "profound anxiety" that the "dark and dramatic events" of the past year have caused in the region.

Victoria Island becomes place of pilgrimage to support Chief Spence

January 10, 2013

OTTAWA - Victoria Island where Chief Theresa Spence has been holding a nearly month-long hunger strike to demand a meeting with the Prime Minister and Governor General to discuss First Nations’ issues has become a pilgrimage site for supporters from across North America.

January 11

Groups rally in opposition to transgender bill

January 11, 2013

OTTAWA - Religious and other groups are rallying opposition to Bill C-279 that would add gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination.

Chalice veil unlocks part of Canada’s Christian past

January 11, 2013

TORONTO - A dirty, little cloth rolled up in a ball of dirt off in a corner winked at Helen Smith and her daughter four years ago. It had a secret to tell — the secret of Canada’s counter reformation history.

Mass entertainment

January 11, 2013

It’s 10 a.m. on a wintry Sunday and you’re sitting in a solid wood pew. The priest has stepped down from the pulpit to stand between a Nativity scene and an Advent wreath with half-melted candles counting down the weeks before Christmas. He’s speaking warmly as he delivers a heartfelt homily.

Extended shopping battle on the horizon in Sudbury

January 11, 2013

In Sudbury, Ont., unions, family groups and the business community are gearing up for a fight over expanded shopping hours.

Salesian parish offers fresh spin on encounters with Christ

January 11, 2013

TORONTO - A new inspirational project has been launched by St. Benedict’s youth ministry.