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June 2014

June 24

Sudanese Catholic woman convicted of apostasy is released from prison

June 24, 2014

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Meriam Ibrahim, 26, a Catholic woman convicted of apostasy for marrying a Christian, was released from prison June 23, her lawyer said.

Pope condemns mafia, says members are excommunicated

June 24, 2014

VATICAN CITY - In the stronghold of an Italian crime syndicate believed to be richer and more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia, Pope Francis said, "Those who follow the path of evil, like the mafiosi do, are not in communion with God; they are excommunicated!"

Malaysian court upholds ruling that Catholic paper may not use 'Allah'

June 24, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's highest court upheld a lower-court ruling that a Catholic newspaper may not use the word "Allah" to refer to God in its Malay-language edition.

Sudanese woman rearrested with family at airport

June 24, 2014

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Meriam Ibrahim, a Catholic woman originally sentenced to death for marrying a Christian, was released from prison June 23, but apprehended again the next day at the Khartoum airport with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, and their two children, her lawyer said.

Bishop McGrattan takes reins in Peterborough

June 24, 2014

PETERBOROUGH, ONT. - The people of Peterborough now have a proud new shepherd to lead their flock.

Legionaries of Christ to receive Vatican-appointed advisor

June 24, 2014

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican will name a special "assistant" to advise the leadership of the troubled Legionaries of Christ, whose revised constitutions Pope Francis has still not approved four months after they were submitted to him.

June 25

The Economist accuses Pope Francis of ‘following Lenin’

June 25, 2014

VATICAN CITY - First, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck labelled Pope Francis a Marxist. Now, The Economist is accusing him of following Vladimir Lenin.

Pipeline debate just heating up

June 25, 2014

OTTAWA - When the Conservative government approved the Northern Gateway pipeline June 17, it launched a debate likely to figure prominently in the 2015 election.

June 26

Euthanasia bill leaves doctors ‘between a rock and a hard place’

June 26, 2014

OTTAWA - Quebec physicians face moral and legal quandaries as their province prepares to implement its new euthanasia law contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.

Kenyan bishops blame corruption, ethnic tensions for insecurity

June 26, 2014

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's Catholic bishops blamed "inherent corruption" and ethnic tensions for the country's recent insecurity.

Bishop condemns kidnappings, asks Israel to keep response proportionate

June 26, 2014

JERUSALEM - The chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate asked anyone with information about the kidnapping of three Israeli teens to come forward and help return the youths to their families. At the same time, he called on the Israeli army to keep its reaction and its search methods proportionate.

Principled bill

June 26, 2014

Critics are dismissing Canada’s proposed new prostitution law claiming it inadequately protects prostitutes and will inevitably be challenged in the Supreme Court. Time will tell on that. But meantime the critics have ignored the clear and positive statement the new law makes about Canadian values.

New refugee rules will tear families apart

June 26, 2014

On the eve of the annual June 20 World Refugee Day, Citizenship and Immigration Canada quietly announced changes to immigration rules that refugee sponsors say will tear apart refugee families who hope to restart their lives in Canada.

Syrian refugee flow to Canada at a trickle

June 26, 2014

Despite committing Canada’s churches and volunteers, unasked, to welcoming 1,100 Syrian refugees before the end of this year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has so far received just 145 applications to sponsor Syrian refugees. None of them have reached Canadian soil.

Synod document cites cultural and economic threats to family

June 26, 2014

VATICAN CITY - The working document for the October 2014 extraordinary Synod of Bishops offers a picture of the Catholic Church today struggling to preach the Gospel and transmit moral teachings amid a "widespread cultural, social and spiritual crisis" of the family.

My epiphany

June 26, 2014

As I write this column, World Pride begins in Toronto. Ten days of celebration of the gay community. I have to be candid and say that this is a very delicate area for me and I’ve personally experienced an entirely new set of ideas and people around the issue in the past six months. I am, as they say, a work in progress but I can tell you that some of the things I said, and thought, in the past were wrong and I would not say them again.

U.S. Supreme Court strikes down 'buffer zones' at abortion clinics

June 26, 2014

WASHINGTON - In a June 26 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that 35-foot buffer zones around abortion clinics — meant to keep demonstrators away — violates First Amendment rights.

Shameful capitulation

June 26, 2014

Meetings for the federal Liberal nomination in Cardigan, P.E.I., are not usually newsworthy. For more than 25 years, the candidate has been Laurence MacAulay, who has won the riding every election since 1988. Now the longest-serving MP in the history of Prince Edward Island, and the second-longest serving MP in Ottawa, MacAulay’s nominations are rather pro forma affairs.

Really, Father, I do appreciate our Catholic schools

June 26, 2014

“Oh dear,” said I to my husband. “In this letter, Fr. Fitzgerald thinks I have somehow dissed the Ontario Catholic schools by doubting the Catholicism of the Santa Barbara killer’s California private school.”

Live by the Spirit

June 26, 2014

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) July 6 (Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30) Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a superhero arrived on the scene and put an end to the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, as well as all acts of terrorism and violence?