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January 13, 2014
The Earth has lost one of its bigger advocates with the passing of Jesuit Father Jim Profit.
Pope Francis has selected Quebec archbishop Gerald Lacroix to become Canada's newest cardinal.
January 14, 2014
VATICAN CITY - A Vatican study group is urging world leaders to stop the flow of arms into Syria and to press for an immediate and complete cease-fire there with no political preconditions.
BANGALORE, India - Two Tamil bishops in Sri Lanka joined a call for an independent inquiry into reported war crimes in the closing stages of the protracted ethnic war in the Indian Ocean island nation in 2009.
JERUSALEM - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a controversial figure in Israel and abroad, died Jan. 11 after being in a coma following a stroke eight years ago. He was laid to rest at his Negev farm Jan. 13.
OTTAWA - At a time when “Quebec needs encouragement,” Pope Francis has named Quebec Archbishop Gerald Lacroix as Canada’s newest cardinal.
January 15, 2014
KIEV, Ukraine - The Ukrainian Catholic Church has accused the government of Soviet-style repression after it was threatened with new restrictions for backing demonstrators protesting the country's withdrawal from a deal with the European Union.
MANILA, Philippines - In the lobby of a luxury hotel, Michael Christian Martinez balanced on one leg and swung the other forward. The lanky 17-year-old was on the ball of his foot and looked like he was about to spring upward into the air.
Updated 01/16/14 VATICAN CITY - Toronto's Cardinal Thomas Collins is one of four cardinals Pope Francis has appointed to a five-person commission overseeing the Vatican bank.
January 16, 2014
Pope Francis seems determined to invigorate the Church so who could be surprised to see him give the College of Cardinals a bit of a shake?
De gustibus non est disputandum. That’s a famous line from St. Augustine wherein he suggests that taste is subjective and that what one person fancies might not be to another person’s liking. Under that canopy I would like to recommend the following books to you. Among the books that I read in 2013, these 10 stayed with me in ways that the others didn’t.
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Jan. 26 (Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17-18; Matthew 4:12-23) It is extremely difficult to be joyful or have hope in the midst of ruin and pain. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali — part of Galilee — had been conquered by the brutal Assyrians around 733 B.C. and made into a province of their empire. The land had been devastated and the northern kingdom of Israel snuffed out. In other words, there was little cause for optimism or joy — the future looked very bleak indeed.
There is a deep vulnerability at the heart of education. Sometimes it looks like this: A mother sits across from me sobbing, her shoulders heaving up and down as she surrenders to the anguish that she carries for her child. I move out from behind the barrier of my desk and sit beside her, offering a tissue.
In his inimitably colourful way, Pope Francis has challenged Catholic priests to be shepherds “living with the smell of the sheep.”
VATICAN CITY - Testifying before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a Vatican representative acknowledged the horror of clerical sexual abuse and insisted the Vatican was serious about protecting children.
In choosing his first group of new cardinals, Pope Francis indicated changes for some parts of the world, but continuity for Canada.
It was the night before Christmas and all through the church, many creatures were stirring . . . especially the restless children.
JERUSALEM - Bishops from North America, Europe and Africa called on international leaders to act immediately so people living in the Gaza Strip can have access to basic necessities.
NUEVA ITALIA, Mexico - A Mexican bishop has rebuked the federal government for sending soldiers to grab the guns of the self-defense groups formed to fight off violent drug cartels and criminal gangs in the western state of Michoacan.
January 17, 2014
The sound of beating drums grew louder as we eagerly approached the vibrant green, yellow and red gates of 56 Hope Rd. in Kingston, Jamaica. I, along with a group of staff and students from St. Paul Secondary School in Mississauga, gathered with local school groups, friends, families, Rastafarians and fans to celebrate the life of reggae legend Bob Marley. It was on this ground where I participated in one of the most moving world religion classes.