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August 2013

August 23

The end is only a new beginning

August 23, 2013

I am standing at a crossroads in life. Life only gives you a handful of these, so I intend to soak it in while the moment is still here. This year is a particularly special one because the word “last” pops up a lot.

Canadian nun thanks Egyptian Muslims who saved church

August 23, 2013

CAIRO - Churches and other Christian properties around Egypt had already been looted, so when Catholics in Berba were tipped off that their southern village could be next, they acted fast.

Web site rocks Catholic music scene

August 23, 2013

Catholic musicians looking for publicity have found a new home at CatholicBands.com — and music lovers are benefitting.

Antigonish diocese action plan could see more churches close

August 23, 2013

ANTIGONISH, N.S. - A further 62 Catholic churches in Antigonish, N.S., are under review as the diocese tries to get its buildings in line with the number of people attending Mass and the number of priests available to preside.

Singing for a New Beginning in Haiti

August 23, 2013

TORONTO - New Beginnings, an international musical collaboration of mainly youth, is channeling its artistic power to provide homeless families in Haiti with housing and real-life new beginnings.

Bishops’ Syria campaign in final stretch

August 23, 2013

OTTAWA - A joint fundraising campaign by Canada’s Catholic bishops and their overseas development agency to bring emergency relief to Syrian refugees will close Sept. 14 with a day of fasting and prayer.

August 24

Work and prayer put to song

August 24, 2013

There’s a very thin layer between heaven and Earth. That’s how Monica Fitzgibbons describes her experience listening to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles Sisters as they recorded Angels and Saints at Ephesus.

'Mystery priest' hopes media hype won't obscure message of God's love

August 24, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - An unlikely chain of events made him not only a national celebrity but a stand-in for every priest who has ever ministered to the faithful in an emergency.

Challenge is to make the classroom a holy place

August 24, 2013

BARRY’S BAY, ONT. - Catholic education should lead to an encounter with the living God and reveal reality’s transcendence, said the Federation of Catholic Teachers’ Guilds of Ontario’s founding president.

Young Tommy balances school, acting career

August 24, 2013

STRATFORD, ONT. - Conor Bergauer considers himself more of a singer than an actor but the young teen jumped at the chance to play “the deaf, dumb and blind,” kid in the summer hit at the Stratford Festival. The Grade 7 Catholic student from Waterloo, Ont. is sharing the lead role in the hit musical Tommy through the summer and into the fall.

Beauty and beer: Monks' outreach is part of new evangelization

August 24, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Even before retired Pope Benedict XVI set up a pontifical council for new evangelization and convoked a world Synod of Bishops on the theme, a new group of Benedictine monks was using Latin and liturgy to reach out to those whose faith was weak or non-existent.

August 25

Malaysian government can appeal ruling on use of 'Allah'

August 25, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The Malaysian government has won the right to continue its appeal against a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims — including a Malay-language Catholic newspaper — to use the word Allah.

Fear of Egyptian violence does not interfere with nuns' hospital work

August 25, 2013

CAIRO - It was lunchtime at Cairo's Italian Hospital, and some of the nuns who reside there were watching state television's latest announcements on Egypt's "war on terror," the expression used by the country's military and its supporters to describe the nationwide crackdown on Islamists.

Call of the north helps dream come alive

August 25, 2013

TORONTO - Pamila Jesuthasan knows teaching is her vocation. Because of this, she took a leap of faith by moving more than 2,000 kilometres away from the comforts of her Toronto home to the isolated village of Ivujivik, Que.

Thunder Bay teacher rocks on

August 25, 2013

Catholic elementary school teacher Krista McCarville is taking one more crack at competitive curling before giving it up to focus on her career and family.

By simplifying the complicated, Brantford student earns honours

August 25, 2013

Sarah Wu is using the complexities of science to simplify malaria screening.

August 26

Pope denounces 'multiplication of massacres,' atrocities in Syria

August 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis called again for an end to the fighting in Syria, denouncing the "multiplication of massacres and atrocious acts," including the suspected chemical weapons attack that left hundreds dead.

Scottish archbishop says cardinal blocked plans for abuse investigation

August 26, 2013

MANCHESTER, England - A disgraced Scottish cardinal halted a plan to allow independent investigators to examine Church child abuse files, said a retired archbishop.

Retired Pope's secretary says 'mystical experience' story is untrue

August 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Archbishop Georg Ganswein, retired Pope Benedict XVI's longtime personal secretary, said a story about the pope resigning after a "mystical experience" was completely invented.

Lebanese cardinal says political leaders must unite to save nation

August 26, 2013

BEIRUIT - Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch, visited a predominantly Muslim city hit by explosions and called on political leaders to come up with a plan to save Lebanon.