February 2013

Pope Benedict to be 'Pope emeritus'

February 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will continue to be known as Pope Benedict and addressed as "His Holiness," but after his resignation, he will add the title "emeritus" in one of two acceptable forms, either "Pope emeritus" or "Roman pontiff emeritus."

Pope offers thanks to God for support over the years

February 27, 2013

The following is the text from Pope Benedict XVI's final general audience at the Vatican Feb. 27.

Pope delivers personal, emotional farewell address at audience

February 27, 2013

VATICAN CITY - On his last full day as Pope, Pope Benedict XVI delivered an unusually personal and emotional farewell address, thanking the faithful around the world for their support and assuring them that he would remain in their service even in retirement.

Pope’s final Angelus draws 150,000+

February 27, 2013

VATICAN CITY - In one of his last public appearances, Pope Benedict XVI told an overflow crowd in St. Peter's Square Feb. 24 that his upcoming retirement does not mean he is abandoning the church, but that he will be serving it in a new way, through prayer and meditation.

Register for digital age

February 27, 2013

The Catholic Register turns 120 this year. For 12 decades it has been a national Catholic voice delivered weekly to the homes and churches of Canada.

Wisdom must be learned the hard way

February 27, 2013

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C) March 10 (Joshua 5:9, 10-12; Psalm 34; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) Disgrace does not give up easily. Those who have experienced disgrace often struggle for the rest of their lives to achieve some sort of restoration of honour and self-respect. These attempts are not always successful.

The lie of violence

February 27, 2013

Visiting a friend, I picked up a handsome book, a collection of Icelandic Sagas to pore through. They were wondrous, and not just because some of my ancestors were Vikings. The stories led from Denmark to Iceland and on, to the land they called Vinland, our Newfoundland. There Eric the Red and company arrived in 1001, the first Europeans in the New World. During their second spring there, birch-bark canoes landed near them: their first encounter with native inhabitants. They killed them. The next spring, the natives’ kin found the Vikings and, in their turn, killed as many as they could.

Trusting God in uncertain times

February 27, 2013

Trusting in God, as Henri Nouwen observed, is not an expression of powerlessness but rather a disposition of humility that is the beginning of spiritual life. A well-grounded Christian, Nouwen said, is deeply in love with Jesus, ready to follow Him wherever they are guided and trusting that with Jesus will come life in abundance.

The chair of Peter will be left in good hands

February 27, 2013

On hearing of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, my first thought was of some lines from the Tennyson poem “Morte D’Arthur,” which my father often quoted in unanticipated circumstances:

It’s time that we reclaim Sunday as the Lord’s day

February 27, 2013

I sometimes think God is trying to get my attention in the strangest places. For instance, I’ve sensed his presence a number of times while in line at a check-out counter.

Faithful throw big farewell at Pope's last general audience

February 27, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The last general audience in St. Peter's Square turned into a farewell party with balloons, flowers, flags, posters, cheers, standing ovations and a touching thank-you speech from Pope Benedict XVI.

Papal office is forever changed

February 27, 2013

Last week, we looked here at the complete novelty of Pope Benedict’s abdication, clarifying that such a thing has never been done in the entire history of the Church.

Quebec’s angels of mercy

February 27, 2013

The battle over legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Quebec just shifted to the side of the angels. On Feb. 19, a group of more than 300 courageous and very determined doctors took out attention-grabbing newspaper advertisements declaring bluntly that their role will never be to “kill” their patients. Calling themselves the Physicians’ Alliance for Total Refusal of Euthanasia, they issued a manifesto rejecting the whole ideology under which doctors would be complicit in administering lethal doses of drugs to patients.

Supreme Court's Whatcott decision disappoints religious freedom advocates

February 27, 2013

OTTAWA - A Supreme Court of Canada decision in the case of William Whatcott has disappointed religious freedom and free-speech advocates.

WIN 2 Tickets! to "Godspell" The Musical

February 27, 2013

• This contest has ended. * Saturday, March 9, 2013 brought to you by Hamilton Theatre Inc. This beloved musical by Stephen Schwartz is based on a series of Parables from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and features the rock-and-roll sounds of the '70s, including the hit-song, Day by Day.

Pope Benedict pledges obedience to next pope 

February 28, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The Clementine Hall is traditionally where cardinals gather to bid farewell to popes at the end of a pontificate, but usually it happens when the pope is lying in state before his funeral.

Pope says he's going from humble servant to simple pilgrim

February 28, 2013

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI, who began his papacy describing himself as a "humble servant in the Lord's vineyard," described his retirement as a time of being a "simple pilgrim, who begins the last stage of his pilgrimage on this earth."

Pope Benedict's last trip is 15-minute helicopter ride

February 28, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI's final trip as pope was a 15-minute helicopter ride from the Vatican to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo.