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November 2013

November 24

A perfect storm for child predators

November 24, 2013

VATICAN CITY - An Irish missionary in the Philippines warned that the chaos and hunger in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan provide the perfect setup for child traffickers.

Typhoon teaches students to be globally aware

November 24, 2013

A typhoon half a world away is a lesson in global responsibility and the golden rule for students at Senator O’Connor Catholic Secondary School in Toronto’s east end.

Syrian crisis threatens to destabilize region

November 24, 2013

OTTAWA - The crisis in Syria is worsening and threatens to destabilize the whole region as winter approaches, said Carl Hétu, general secretary of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canada.

November 25

Pope marks 80th anniversary of 'Terror-Famine of Ukraine'

November 25, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The day before he was to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis greeted Ukrainians marking the 80th anniversary of the "Holodomor" or "Terror-Famine of Ukraine."

Pope venerates apostle's relics, urges people focus on Christ

November 25, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis closed the Year of Faith by calling on people to keep Christ at the center of their lives, especially in times of trouble.

Small acts of kindness ease hardships typhoon survivors face

November 25, 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Two weeks after Super Typhoon Haiyan laid waste much of central Philippines, the exodus from the worst-hit areas brought an influx of about 15,000 evacuees to Manila where lay Catholics have been responding to pressing needs.

November 26

At Vatican meeting, pope discusses ongoing war in Syria with Putin

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Peace in the Middle East, particularly the ongoing war in Syria, topped the agenda Nov. 25 as Pope Francis welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Vatican.

Pope frames vision for Church outreach at every level

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Here are a few of the main features of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), which was released Nov. 26 at the Vatican:

Pope says only men can be priests, but women must have voice in church

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church is not going to change its position on the inadmissibility of women priests, Pope Francis said, but it does have to stop linking all decision making to ordination and allow women to have a voice in deliberations.

Pope: Opposition to abortion isn't 'conservative,' it's result of faith

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Defending human dignity and protecting society's most vulnerable necessarily means protecting the unborn and defending their right to life, Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation.

Vatican officials say pope's document provides map for church's future

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on sharing the joy of the Gospel is a call to faith-filled optimism, recognizing challenges but knowing that God's love and lordship will prevail, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, introducing the text to the media.

Pope lays out his vision for an evangelical Church

November 26, 2013

VATICAN CITY - In his first extensive piece of writing as Pope, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society's poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and unborn.

November 27

Woodworth introduces human dignity motion

November 27, 2013

OTTAWA - Warning of a “dark and dystopian future” if society accepts any instance of the state stripping even one person of their status as a human being, Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth tabled another motion in Parliament that highlights the status of the unborn child.

Coalition forms to take on destructive porn industry

November 27, 2013

OTTAWA - A coalition comprising feminists, religious, aboriginals, NGOs and human-trafficking experts are joining forces with Conservative MP Joy Smith to take on the porn industry.

November 28

German bishops eye guidelines for divorced Catholics to take Communion

November 28, 2013

WARSAW, Poland - Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country's bishops' conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the Pope's endorsement.

Stop the exodus

November 28, 2013

Every Advent the eyes of the Christian world turn towards the birthplace of Christ. But with each passing year those eyes are finding fewer and fewer Christians in Bethlehem and throughout the Holy Land.

The world was present for Christ’s birth

November 28, 2013

KINGSTON, ONT. - Local Catholic Tony Vella had an effective evangelizing idea. How to remind local schoolchildren about the birth of Jesus amid the commercial clutter of the season? The St. Paul the Apostle parishioner thought that the best way to remind children about Jesus was to show them, well, Jesus.

Where are we?

November 28, 2013

Two years ago, my wife and I were in her mother’s room at an extended-care facility when we heard another patient calling out plaintively. I poked my head out the door in plenty of time to see Madame Beaudoin moving up the hallway with halting walker-steps, calling out: “Where am I?”

Cyberbullying only one part of a bigger picture

November 28, 2013

A wide-ranging cyberbullying bill introduced in Parliament on Nov. 20 covers far more than the distribution of sexually explicit images without the person’s consent. It also gives police new tools to investigate the use of the Internet for terrorism, organized crime and hate propaganda. Justice Minister Peter McKay acknowledged that Bill C-13 (Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act) goes beyond cyberbullying and will modernize parts of the Criminal Code that were written before text messaging and e-mail existed.

Is politics suffering from a death of character?

November 28, 2013

Writing in The Death of Character, James Hunter argues that character is frequently associated with words like honour, reputation, integrity, manners, duty and even manhood. Character, he argues, is always associated with an explicitly moral standard of conduct oriented towards work, building, expanding, achieving and sacrifice on behalf of a larger good.