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February 2013

February 16

One million pennies in one year for charity

February 16, 2013

Don’t look now, but Mike Perron wants to get his hand in your penny jar. By the time he’s done, he plans to have 2,500 kilograms of pennies. That’s one million coins, or $10,000, which Perron will give to charity.

United in song, and blessed by the pontiff

February 16, 2013

“He looked right at me.” Those words, expressed with both reverence and excitement, came from the mouths of almost every member of the Our Lady of Sorrows Ecumenical Choir, just after having been blessed by Pope Benedict XVI at the Papal Mass for the Presentation of Our Lord at St. Peter’s Basilica — certainly, given his resignation announced Feb. 11, one of his last celebrations as our Holy Father.

Trent pro-lifers denied club status

February 16, 2013

Trent University’s student union has denied club status to the pro-life student group Trent Lifeline.

February 17

Hamilton bishops’ dinner keeps growing

February 17, 2013

HAMILTON, ONT. - It has become the highlight of the Catholic social calendar in the Hamilton area over the past quarter-century and this year was no exception as more than 800 people filled Carmen’s Banquet and Convention Centre on Feb. 9 for the 28th Annual Bishop’s Charities Dinner and Dance.

Tips to help Catholics return to sacrament of Confession

February 17, 2013

WASHINGTON - After “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned” there are millions of Catholics who don’t exactly know what to say next.

February 18

Loyola appeals to Supreme Court to settle religious freedom matter

February 18, 2013

Montreal school challenges ERC ruling OTTAWA - A private Montreal Catholic high school has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to settle whether religious freedom applies to religious institutions as well as to individuals.

Student action helps to feed the children

February 18, 2013

When high school teachers want to show their students Christ’s work in action, they bring them to Canadian Food for Children, said Dr. Andrew Simone.

58 Haitian families housed in first phase of D&P housing project

February 18, 2013

There are 58 Haitian families in earthquake-proof homes thanks to a Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace project that has introduced new building technology to the Caribbean nation.

February 19

Vatican guesthouse offers cardinals privacy, relaxed comfort

February 19, 2013

VATICAN CITY - When they are not in the Sistine Chapel, seated under Michelangelo's frescoes to vote for the next pope, the cardinal-electors will stay in a modern guesthouse that offers them both privacy and space to gather for relaxed conversation.

In plenary address, German bishops' head pays tribute to Pope Benedict

February 19, 2013

TRIER, Germany - The president of the German bishops' conference has asked Pope Benedict XVI's forgiveness for "errors committed against him" in his homeland, adding that most Germans respect him as a "spiritual and intellectual authority."

Pope Benedict saw Jews, Muslims as allies in defending belief in God

February 19, 2013

VATICAN CITY - In trying to help people understand how belief in God is a natural part of life and provides grounding for the values that protect human dignity and peaceful coexistence, Pope Benedict XVI saw Jews and Muslims as natural allies.

Ottawa professor chosen Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom

February 19, 2013

Updated 02/22/13 With a nod to slain Pakistani cabinet minister Shahbaz Bhatti, Prime Minister Stephen Harper inaugurated the long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom by appointing a Catholic scholar and public servant as its first-ever ambassador.

February 20

Dr. Billings helped develop widely used method of NFP

February 20, 2013

MELBOURNE, Australia - Dr. Evelyn Billings, who with her husband, John, pioneered research that led them to develop a form of natural family planning supported by the Catholic Church, died Feb. 16 after a short illness. She was 95.

The gold standard

February 20, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI barely had time to catch his breath after announcing his resignation before speculation began about his successor.

God coaxes us on our spiritual path

February 20, 2013

Third Sunday of Lent (Year C) March 3 (Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9) God has always been invoked by many names and has carried many labels. But when God had the opportunity to reveal a name, label or doctrine it was a different story.

Heroes, it seems, only fall from their perches

February 20, 2013

We’re still deep in winter and already this young year has been bad for “heroes.” First, there was Notre Dame’s star linebacker Mante T’eo admitting he lied about a girlfriend he never had who died of cancer, although she never existed so she didn’t really die. Conveniently, the truth was only revealed after the national championship football game in January.

Mourning Benedict’s decision: may we trust what he has done

February 20, 2013

“My favourite Pope has broken my heart.” Jet-lagged at 6:30 in the Montreal morning, I stared at my Facebook page in shock. My friends in Rome had the news first, and they were sending it to friends electronically. More out of instinct than reason — for I do not consciously trust the secular press to report Catholic news accurately — I clicked to the UK’s Telegraph. My eyes had not deceived me, and my Rome friends had not gone crazy. The Holy Father really had announced — no, not his resignation — his abdication. The unthinkable had not only been thought but said.

Unprecedented, yes, but not against established practice

February 20, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI’s renunciation of the See of Peter has occasioned much commentary about how rare a papal resignation is. Many have said that it has been 600 years or 700 years, depending on how one counts. It is more radical than that. What the Holy Father did has never been done in the history of the Church. Ever.

Pope’s resignation opens door to media mythology

February 20, 2013

I don’t think any serious Roman Catholic expected anything other than a concerted attack and smear campaign when Pope Benedict announced his resignation. And, exactly as we predicted, instead of using the opportunity to look back intelligently and objectively on a fascinating and courageous papacy, mainstream media lied, smeared and libelled the Pope and his followers, all the while pretending to really care, really know and really report.

Hamilton gets a new auxiliary bishop

February 20, 2013

HAMILTON, ONT. - Fr. Daniel Miehm has been appointed the new auxiliary bishop for the Hamilton diocese. Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana announced the appointment by Pope Benedict XVI Feb. 20.