FREE access to the digital edition and archives until September 2. Click here. →
Browse › 2014 › February
February 21, 2014
VATICAN CITY - A day after at least 75 people were reported killed in clashes between police and protesters in Ukraine's capital, Pope Francis asked the College of Cardinals to send a message of support to the two Ukrainian cardinals who are suffering because their people are.
WASHINGTON - In light of the proposed death penalty for 20-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the accused in the Boston Marathon bombings, "Jesus weeps ... again" at the injustice, the U.S. Conference of Major Superiors of Men said in a Feb. 19 statement.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis named a French, a Philippine and a Brazilian cardinal to serve as the three presidents of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family in October.
The fate of refugees and the struggles of immigrants in general is on the agenda for Canada’s Catholic bishops, but the bishops are steering clear of a national campaign supported by several church and lay groups which has been critical of the government’s record on refugee rights.
TORONTO - It’s Friday afternoon and classes have just ended. The weekend is about to begin, but more than a hundred high school students in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood would rather stay at school.
VATICAN CITY - As some 150 cardinals from around the world gathered with Pope Francis to talk about the family, their two days of discussion focused particularly on three points: the Christian vision of people and family life; essential pastoral programs to support families; and ministry to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.
February 22, 2014
A Bible for the new age is taking Scripture back to its spoken roots.
TORONTO - There’s more than chicken and creamed corn on the menu at St. Francis Table in Parkdale. Every meal is served with a side of dignity and belonging.
WASHINGTON - The upcoming movie Son of God should be seen as “a love story,” according to two of its executive producers, the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.
TORONTO - The sisters know slavery is nothing new, and they want Toronto to open its eyes to human trafficking that’s wormed its way into the nooks and crannies of our economy before the Pan Am Games roll into town next year.
The federal government spent $30 million in 2012 and 2013 to convince Canadians the War of 1812 was a glorious, defining moment which forged Canada’s identity in war. The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul in Kingston, Ont., aren’t buying it.
How Canadians end their lives and whether we need a national plan for the health care of dying Canadians will be debated in Parliament at the beginning of April.
TORONTO - The economics of faith is the economics of abundance. But that’s a hard message to get out into a world mesmerized by the illusion of scarcity, an economist told faith community activists at Toronto’s City Hall.
February 23, 2014
OTTAWA - When Andrew Bennett became Canada’s first religious freedom ambassador a year ago, he placed an icon of Blessed Vasyl Velichkovsky on his desk.
VATICAN CITY - When Pope Benedict XVI announced, on Feb. 11, 2013, that he would become the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign, speculation was as varied as it was excited about the long-term consequences of his historic act. But one common line of thought held that, for better or worse, his decision might leave the papacy a less exalted and powerful office, bringing the supreme pontiff closer to the level of other bishops, clergy and faithful.
The momentous occasion of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation one year ago stands as an important moment in the life of the Catholic Church and in the life of the world. To his brother cardinals gathered in consistory on the morning of Feb. 11, he startled them, the Church and the entire world when he said that due to his advanced age and deteriorating health, he would be relinquishing his papacy.
Anybody who ever thought the Church never changes must have had another thought crash their party a year ago when Pope Benedict XVI stepped down from the throne of Peter.
February 24, 2014
VATICAN CITY - On a feast day commemorating the authority Jesus gave to St. Peter and his successors -- the popes -- Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI.
VATICAN CITY - In a move reflecting both his drive to reform the Vatican bureaucracy and his oft-stated desire to include laypeople in the leadership of the Church, Pope Francis established a new panel, to include almost as many lay members as clerics, to oversee the finances of the Holy See and Vatican City State.
ROME - Tiny Vatican City consumes more wine per capita than any other country in the world, according to information from the California-based Wine Institute.