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April 20, 2014
TORONTO - Before the sun rises on April 27, celebrations to honour the canonizations of Blesseds Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII will have already begun in the Archdiocese of Toronto.
VATICAN CITY - The rite of canonization for Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II April 27 will use the standard formula for the creation of new saints, but the Mass will be preceded by the recitation of the Divine Mercy chaplet, and it is possible retired Pope Benedict XVI will attend, the Vatican spokesman said.
ROME - Rome city officials expect approximately three million people to gather April 27 for the canonization of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II; that’s way too many people to watch the event near the Vatican, so they suggest the alternative of watching by the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
April 21, 2014
TORONTO - At least 1,000 Ontarians are calling on the province's Catholic school trustees to demand the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association abandon its decision to have representation at the World Pride Parade.
Christians began a three-day prayer and fasting period after Islamist Boko Haram militants kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria and desperate parents joined the search in a remote forest.
VATICAN CITY - "They call me Holy Father and that is what I must be," the future St. John XXIII wrote in his diary.
April 22, 2014
VATICAN CITY - Every day, countless visitors to the tomb of Blessed John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica leave letters and notes addressed to him.
MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will not appeal a court decision that allows parents to remove their non-Catholic children from religious classes and events.
OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has raised concerns about “serious challenges” at home and abroad in an open letter to Prime Minister Harper dated April 17.
April 23, 2014
VATICAN CITY - Retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend the canonization of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II April 27, said Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of the Vatican-related pilgrim agency, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.
It has been said that courage is the most important virtue because without courage a life of true virtue is impossible.
Ninety-five years old, in failing health, evangelist Billy Graham has summoned his energies to write what will almost surely be his last book: The Reason for My Hope. As I read it, I was struck by the extent to which Graham’s prose carries out the “new evangelism” to which Pope Benedict XVI insistently called the Catholic Church.
VATICAN CITY - Reports that Pope Francis told an Argentine woman civilly married to a divorced man that she can receive Communion "cannot be confirmed as reliable," said Jesuit Father Federico, the Vatican spokesman.
MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - A human rights complaint alleging systemic homophobia in an Ontario French-language Catholic school is “groundless,” said a board superintendent.
In her parting words to Quebecers, politically humiliated former Premier Pauline Marois reminded us of that shining moment when she arose from her personal Eden to quick-march us to the New Jerusalem.
ROME - John Paul will be canonized a saint on Divine Mercy Sunday, just as he was beatified in 2011 on Divine Mercy Sunday. It is not just because he designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in the great jubilee year 2000, but because of his extraordinarily providential death in 2005.
Earlier this month, the international wire services carried a story involving a fragment of papyrus written in Coptic that suggested Jesus may have referred to “my wife” in speaking to a group of followers.
Third Sunday of Easter (Year A) May 4 (Acts 2:14, 22b-28; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35) There are two streams of history active in our world and they often work at cross-purposes. The first stream consists of human schemes and behaviour that are often the expression of desires, fears, jealousy and hatred. Even our best intentions are often fatally compromised by the presence of these tendencies. The world as we experience it is the unhappy result. The other stream is that of God’s will operating in history. It is relentless; even when temporarily diverted or blocked by human behaviour, it always triumphs in the end. God’s will is the redemption of all humanity and the transformation of the world.
We need to give away some of our own possessions in order to be healthy. Wealth that is hoarded always corrupts those who possess it. Any gift that is not shared turns sour.
OTTAWA - Forces opposed to euthanasia in Quebec have expressed disappointment newly elected Premier Philippe Couillard intends to press ahead with euthanasia legislation.