Browse › 2014 › June

June 2014

June 16

Pope appeals for peace in Iraq, announces plans to visit Albania

June 16, 2014

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis expressed his fears over increasing violence in Iraq and prayed for peace, security and reconciliation in the country.

World must help unaccompanied minors fleeing violence, official says

June 16, 2014

VATICAN CITY - On rickety boats crossing the Mediterranean Sea or on trains through Mexico or desert paths crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, a huge increase in the number of children traveling alone to flee war or violence calls for urgent action by the international community, a Vatican official said.

June 17

Fr. Hoeppe served German parish for half a century

June 17, 2014

Toronto - Maria Luxbacher credits Fr. Karl Hoeppe with influencing both her boys’ decisions to enter the seminary. He was an example to children that priests do more than just preach on Sunday, she said.

Phoenix police arrest suspect in violent attack on two Catholic priests

June 17, 2014

PHOENIX - Police in Phoenix have arrested a suspect in the violent assault on a downtown church that took the life of one priest and left a second priest critically injured.

Kenya’s religious leaders demand government response to deadly terror attack

June 17, 2014

NAIROBI, Kenya - Christian and Muslim leaders united June 17 to demand government action after a deadly terror attack in Kenya’s coastal region.

Prostitution Bill C-36 passes second reading vote

June 17, 2014

OTTAWA - After only five hours of debate, Bill C-36, the federal government's new prostitution bill passed second reading June 16 by a 139-117 vote.

Theologians at Vatican move Archbishop Sheen's cause closer to beatification

June 17, 2014

PEORIA, Ill. - The possible miracle needed for the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen took another step toward papal recognition June 17 when a panel of theologians met at the Vatican, the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation announced.

June 18

European Church leaders welcome court ruling on religious rights

June 18, 2014

OXFORD, England - Catholic Church representatives have welcomed a European Court judgment reaffirming the autonomy of religious communities, but warned that pressure could continue to restrict religious rights.

None of your business? How Church and finance may profit together

June 18, 2014

VATICAN CITY - When Pope Francis condemns a "cult of money" and the "dictatorship" of a faceless economy, he isn't trying to damper entrepreneurial spirit or shutter business.

After massacre, Kenyan bishops ask, 'Where was the security?'

June 18, 2014

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Kenyan bishops' justice and peace commission criticized the five-hour-long massacre in the coastal town of Mpeketoni and asked: "Where was the security? Where was the intelligence? Where were the police? What happened to the various roadblocks?"

Pro-life activist freed, but takes next step in challenging abortion

June 18, 2014

TORONTO - A pro-life activist launching a constitutional challenge regarding the current definition of a human being in Canadian law was released from custody as her trial came to an end on June 12, almost two years after she was arrested at a Toronto abortion site.

Angus church, parishioners unscathed by tornado

June 18, 2014

Parishioners of Our Lady of Grace parish have been spared from the brunt of active weather that swept through Angus, Ont., on June 17.

OECTA is wrong

June 18, 2014

The outcry continues but the decision remains unchanged: the union that represents 45,000 Ontario Catholic teachers is determined to march June 29 in Toronto’s gay pride parade. As Cardinal Thomas Collins recently put it, “Really? What are you thinking?”

June 19

San Francisco archbishop defends decision to join rally against gay marriage

June 19, 2014

Religion News Service - The U.S. Catholic bishops’ point man on opposing same-sex marriage defended his decision to take part in today's March for Marriage in Washington, saying support for traditional man-woman marriage is not “anti-LGBT … anti-anyone or anti-anything.”

Some fear what religion is doing to Middle East

June 19, 2014

I met a man in Bethlehem who has dedicated his life to compassion, justice, enlightenment and hope. He respects God and tradition and loves the poorest and the weakest among human beings. And he refuses to go to Church.

The Kingdom’s keys belong to those who are faithful

June 19, 2014

Sts. Peter and Paul (Year A) June 29 (Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8; 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19) Dramatic prison breaks are featured in many novels and movies. Recently Canadians were shocked at a daring helicopter escape from a prison in Quebec. Peter, however, could top any of these stories. He was sprung from captivity by an angel!

We often weary in our patience

June 19, 2014

Before the airline hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, before the shoe-bomber and others like him, it was simpler to travel by air. You didn’t need to take off your shoes to pass through security, you could carry liquids with you, laptops and other electronic devices, if you had any, did not have to be brought out of your carry-on bags. The door to the cockpit wasn’t barricaded with steel, and there was much less paranoia in general about security. You even got to see the pilot occasionally.

Windsor Catholic school board begins to downsize

June 19, 2014

The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board will be downsizing over the next year despite projecting a $1.1-million surplus in the 2014-2015 budget.

No comfort in words

June 19, 2014

On the very day Quebec legalized medical killing this month, I committed an act of euthanasia.

Refugees in Jordan say they never thought they would have to leave home

June 19, 2014

AMMAN, Jordan - Desperate to reunite with family in Europe, a young Syrian refugee recently paid thousands of dollars to a human trafficker to help him and his brother travel abroad. Instead, the pair found themselves tricked, half-way on the opposite side of the world — in China.