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June 2013

June 1

Unique organ festival comes to an end

June 1, 2013

TORONTO - Organix, the only festival of its kind in Toronto with its focus on the pipe organ, will cease to exist in its current form once the closing Gala Performance wraps up on June 7.

There is no escaping moral judgment

June 1, 2013

The appearance of yet another film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby provides the occasion for reflecting on what many consider the great American novel.

June 2

Religious women return to roots

June 2, 2013

EDMONTON - Religious women have seen their vocations change dramatically over the years. They have gone from running large institutions such as hospitals, fine art academies, schools and retreat houses to more modest ministries such as working with immigrants, abused women and inner city poor.

Home the place for young kids, study shows

June 2, 2013

Parents overwhelmingly believe it is better for young children to be at home with a parent rather than in day care or all-day kindergarten, according to a new poll commissioned by an Ottawa think tank.

June 3

Where two or more are gathered: Manila offers Masses in unusual spots

June 3, 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Every Sunday at the upscale Power Plant Mall in metro Manila, the establishment tucked between a Japanese chocolate confectioner and a modern Italian furniture store has an overflowing crowd. It's not a shop, and it's not a restaurant. It's a Catholic chapel that seats 700 and remains overcrowded on weekends.

June 4

Catholic charities appeal for help after flooding in Central Europe

June 4, 2013

BONN, Germany - Catholic charities in Central Europe have appealed for help after floods devastated areas of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

June 5

Czech cardinal welcomes plan to pay billions to churches for property

June 5, 2013

WARSAW, Poland - A Czech cardinal welcomed final court approval of government plans to pay billions of dollars to churches in compensation for their losses under communist rule.

Aggressive secular orthodoxy creates cartoon version of Christian faith

June 5, 2013

OTTAWA - An aggressive secular orthodoxy has created a cartoon version of the Christian faith, said the keynote speaker at the 47th National Prayer Breakfast here June 4.

Bishops urge G8 leaders not to forget the poor in advance of G8 meeting

June 5, 2013

OTTAWA - The president of Canada’s Catholic bishops' conference has written Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging him not to forget the poor at the June 17-18 G-8 meeting in Northern Ireland.

Congo losing a generation to war, says bishops' conference president

June 5, 2013

WASHINGTON - Congo is losing a generation to war over diamonds and other minerals in the country's eastern regions, said the president of the nation's bishops' conference.

Slippery slope indeed

June 5, 2013

Four decades after Henry Morgentaler performed his first abortion to set the country on a path to abortion lawlessness, Canada is still weighing his profound and tragic impact on society. That regrettable truth was apparent in the obituaries after Morgentaler, 90, died May 23 of a heart attack.

Our fundamental option

June 5, 2013

Several years ago, at a conference that I was attending, the keynote speaker challenged his audience in this way: All of us, he pointed out, are members of various communities. We live in families, are part of church congregations, have colleagues with whom we work, have a circle of friends and are part of a larger civic community. In every one of these there will come a time when we will get hurt, when we will not be honoured, when we will be taken for granted and treated unfairly. All of us will get hurt. That is a given. However, and this was his challenge, how we handle that hurt, with either bitterness or forgiveness, will colour the rest of our lives and determine what kind of person we are going to be.

Repentance, forgiveness will set us free

June 5, 2013

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 16 (2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Psalm 32; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3) For some people there is no such thing as “enough” — more power, money, fame and control over others is an obsession. King David had been given everything: dominion over the land, the crown of Israel, deliverance from danger and countless other blessings. God would have even added more if only David had asked. God only asked that David remember these kindnesses and walk in the ways of the Lord.

June 6

Quebec prayer ruling could have nationwide effect

June 6, 2013

The Quebec Court of Appeal recently overturned a provincial human rights commission ruling regarding the opening prayer at Saguenay City Council. The commission had ruled that the mayor, Jean Tremblay, must cease saying the opening prayer and also pay $30,000 in damages to the complainant. The court, however, said the tribunal got it wrong and that the opening prayer did not significantly affect the state’s “religious neutrality” and should therefore be allowed.

The good in differences

June 6, 2013

There was a small moment at a recent McGill University conference that put the very large debate about public religious faith into clear perspective. Rabbi Lisa Gruschcow, appearing on a panel called Taking the Temperature: Religion and Secularism in Canadian Society, spoke eloquently and effectively about the delicate balancing of neutral secular governance with public manifestations of religious freedom.

Fr. Greeley, the happy warrior, got one big thing wrong

June 6, 2013

There are those priests who write — columns, novels, academic papers, books — and then there was Fr. Andrew Greeley. He wrote. Certainly too much, but the Lord made him a writer, so he wrote, and he can hardly be blamed for that. Some 5,000 words a day for a very long time, turning out serious sociological research on the Catholic experience in America, analysing survey data as a long time scholar with the respected National Opinion Research Centre. He wrote a newspaper column for the Catholic press for decades. And there were his dozens of novels — tens of millions of copies in print — bestselling yarns that included the infamous sex scenes that rather made him famous among the elite media who think that celibates know nothing about sex.

Despite our differences, I still prayed for Dr. Morgentaler

June 6, 2013

About 30 years ago I met the late Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, a co-founder of the U.S. abortion movement and back then a self-described atheistic Jew.

June 9, 2013 issue

June 6, 2013

Exclusive articles, video, audio and photo galleries in the Catholic Register: Digital Edition for our June 9th, 2013 issue:

Woodworth says pro-lifers must change tack

June 6, 2013

TORONTO - Addressing the wider issues of equality and dignity, instead of just focussing on abortion, are the biggest challenges in Canadian law, pro-life MP Stephen Woodworth told a surprised audience at the annual awards dinner of the Catholic Civil Rights League.

St. Anthony of Padua relics coming to Canada for 750th anniversary tour

June 6, 2013

TORONTO - Every year Toronto renews its connection with St. Anthony of Padua, but this year the city will welcome the saint’s relics on the 750th anniversary of their discovery by St. Bonaventure and the 782nd anniversary of his death.