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June 2014

June 19

A saint, a scholar and a song

June 19, 2014

The feast of Corpus Christi brings out some of the Church’s most treasured hymns — “Pange lingua,” “Adoro te devote,” “Panis angelicus.” My favourite eucharistic hymn is “Ave verum corpus.” Hymns, like popular songs, can bring back strong memories of the circumstances in which they were heard. The “Ave verum” brings back a beautiful memory for me, suitable to share with readers on Corpus Christi this year. The sacred song links together our new saint and an old scholar, both very influential in my life.

Today’s St. F.X. forgets its Catholic past

June 19, 2014

A few weeks back, I attended a funeral Mass about a half hour from my home. With the priest’s comforting words and the heavy smell of incense still commandeering our senses, the congregation filed out and into the nearby church hall for sandwiches, tea and a story or two about Sandy, the deceased. The elderly man, from all accounts that flowed from inside the church and out, was a kind, gentle soul who put family and God above all else.

Pope Francis to visit the heart of Italy’s mafia country

June 19, 2014

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will travel to the heartland of the Italian mafia for the first time June 21, visiting the southern town where a three-year-old was murdered in a local drug war earlier this year.

A modern-day debutante

June 19, 2014

People say age is just a number, but the number 18 screams “stepping into adulthood.” In the Filipino tradition, the tradition of my family, when a young lady turns 18, it’s a huge celebration, which is popularly known as a “debut.”

June 20

Women doctors at the heart of healing

June 20, 2014

Accidental Theologians: Four women who shaped Christianity, by Elizabeth A. Dreyer (Franciscan Media, Softcover, 160 pages, $15.99). This may not be a beach read, but it sure is a girl-crush overload.

English class takes a turn to the spiritual

June 20, 2014

BRAMPTON, ONT. - At Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School, students want Catholic education to extend beyond religion class.

Phoenix priest’s murder felt in Barry’s Bay

June 20, 2014

The death of Fr. Kenneth Walker at the hands of unknown gunmen has left the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy community shocked.

With a heart for the people McGrattan goes to Peterborough

June 20, 2014

TORONTO – The Archdiocese of Toronto wished Auxiliary Bishop William McGrattan a formal farewell with a mid-afternoon Mass, Friday, June 20 at St. Paul's Basilica.

Youth prepare to defend faith in public square

June 20, 2014

OTTAWA - Three young Catholic women from Ottawa are among a group of young people 35 and under who are preparing to defend the faith, the Church and the Pope in the public square.

Say 'no' to drugs, 'yes' to life, love, job creation, Pope says

June 20, 2014

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said legalizing marijuana and other so-called "recreational drugs" has never curbed drug addiction rates and has little impact on the criminal organizations trafficking drugs around the world.

Diplomacy, not force, needed to resolve Iraq crisis

June 20, 2014

WASHINGTON - Saying the United States has a special responsibility to the people of Iraq, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace called for diplomatic measures rather than a military response to the crisis facing the country.

June 21

With abortion, there are always Complications

June 21, 2014

Complications: Abortion’s Impact on Women (deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research, 433 pages, softcover, $29.95). We often reduce human sexuality to the individual. We concentrate on personal experience, preference and desire. Which is certainly not irrelevant, but it reduces the abortion debate to a question of individual women making individual choices.

Italian women seek freedom to marry the priests they love

June 21, 2014

ROME - Anna Ferretti has been married for more than 40 years, and she and her husband are the proud parents of four children. There’s only one catch: Her husband is a Catholic priest.

June 22

Complex issue is surely headed to the courts

June 22, 2014

The legal battle over Quebec’s new “end-of-life care” law isn’t going to be a slam dunk for either side given the complexity of issues the courts will have to consider, says Catholic Civil Rights League president Phil Horgan.

Canadians want better palliative care

June 22, 2014

Pressure is building on the federal government to get busy on a national palliative care strategy.

Soo tower an ode to missionary past

June 22, 2014

SAULT STE. MARIE, MICH. It stands there, all 60 metres of it, a giant concrete structure, looking like it’s the control tower for the world famous Soo Locks, two blocks away, that connect Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.

Order of Malta hospital central to Bethlehem’s faith community

June 22, 2014

BETHLEHEM - Hospitals are mostly in the habit of receiving patients. In Bethlehem, Holy Family Hospital also receives pilgrims.

June 23

Catholic Register honoured with 10 awards by Catholic Press Association

June 23, 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Catholic Register writers and editors were honoured with 10 awards, including three first-place prizes, at a gala banquet held June 20 to recognize excellence in Catholic journalism.

Maronite bishops: Mideast turmoil threatens to change regional map

June 23, 2014

BEIRUT - Maronite Catholic bishops expressed their concern about the war in Syria and Iraq and warned that Lebanon's presidential vacuum poses a dangerous risk to the country, particularly amid the escalating regional turmoil that they said threatens to change the map of the Middle East.

Canadian cardinal assumes his titular parish in Rome

June 23, 2014

ROME - Canada’s newest cardinal took possession of his titular parish in Rome June 22, celebrating the feast of Corpus Domini with Italian parishioners and members of the Canadian community in Rome.