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November 2014

November 13

Pick better battles

November 13, 2014

Four months after its health care policy for refugee claimants was ruled unconstitutional, Ottawa has grudgingly relented to a judge’s order and returned many — but not all — benefits to the needy people it had previously abandoned. We say grudgingly because the immigration minister remains determined to continue a court battle in defence of a policy that a federal court has already — and quite rightly — denounced as “cruel and unusual.”

Oppressive Islam

November 13, 2014

In the first week of November Prince Charles, a man sometimes criticized for being too supportive and praising of Britain’s Muslim community, made a passionate speech calling for the Islamic world to stop persecuting its Christian minorities. The same day it was announced that a Christian couple had been beaten to death in Pakistan for allegedly defacing a copy of the Quran. Whether they did such a thing is doubtful but, anyway, irrelevant. Only barbaric regimes and barbaric religions believe in killing people for marking inanimate objects.

John Paul II opened gates to fall of European communism

November 13, 2014

The 25th anniversary of the defeat of European communism, dramatically punctuated by the smashing of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, was a historical moment of biblical proportions. The peaceful dismantling of the Soviet empire — so much so that the Soviet Union ceased to exist altogether in 1991 — was never thought to be possible, let alone to be accomplished by the very workers and ordinary people in whose name communism ostensibly ruled. Rarely is it possible to see in history the finger of God so clearly at work.

Honouring ancestors is a long-held tradition

November 13, 2014

In January 1886, a recently bereaved Edinburgh widow named Catherine Cockburn bought a three-square-yard plot in the Dalry Necropolis, a cemetery half a mile from the family home. Her late husband Andrew had been only 39, the couple had been married only four years, and they had had two children.

The shepherd always looks after His flock

November 13, 2014

Christ the King (Year A) Nov. 23 (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Psalm 23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46) There are many models of power and authority in the world but far too many of them are based on brute force, authoritarianism and domination. When coupled with a powerful ideology, they have enslaved millions and been the cause of countless deaths. There are less dramatic forms that constrict thought and expression or seek to control the lives of others.

Seal of confession is absolute

November 13, 2014

VATICAN CITY - The secrecy of a confession is maintained so seriously and completely by the Catholic Church that a priest would be excommunicated for revealing the contents of a confession when ordered to testify by a court or even after the penitent dies, Vatican officials said.

Three kinds of spiritualities

November 13, 2014

All of us struggle, and we struggle in three ways. First, sometimes we struggle simply to maintain ourselves, to stay healthy and stable, to stay normal, to not fall apart, to not have our lives unravel into chaos and depression. It takes real effort just to maintain our ordinary health, stability and happiness.

Pope Francis to build showers for homeless in St. Peter’s Square

November 13, 2014

VATICAN CITY - In his latest bid to ease the suffering of the poor — and upend the expectations of the papacy — Pope Francis plans to build showers for the homeless under the sweeping white colonnade of St. Peter’s Square.

Mexican bishops call violence a 'national crisis'

November 13, 2014

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican bishops' conference issued an impassioned plea for peace and an end to the bloodshed in a country consumed with the crisis of 43 teacher trainees allegedly captured by crooked cops, killed by organized crime and burned.

November 14

Catholics reclaim sacred Scripture

November 14, 2014

As a young girl, I would sometimes accompany my grandmother to church on Sunday, which always meant attending Sunday school. I always looked forward to Sunday school because the lessons were centred on Bible stories and candies were awarded for memorizing Bible verses. In my youth, believing was joyful and it always included the Bible.

Suicide threatens teens

November 14, 2014

Amanda is recovering after battling depression for three years. The Grade 12 student, 18, is thankful for friends who helped stop her from taking her own life.

Cemetery found under Toronto church parking lot

November 14, 2014

TORONTO - In Toronto’s west end a long-forgotten, paved-over cemetery has been unearthed on the grounds of St. John the Evangelist Church.

Cardinal O'Malley says Rome 'urgently' needs to look into Bishop Finn

November 14, 2014

WASHINGTON - In an interview with the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes" scheduled to air Nov. 16, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston said the Vatican needs to "urgently" address the situation of Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, who was convicted in 2012 on one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse.

U.S. bishops send new delegates, mixed message, to 2015 Vatican family synod

November 14, 2014

The nation’s Catholic bishops have chosen a mixed slate of delegates for next year’s high-level Vatican summit on the family, including outspoken culture warriors who are sometimes viewed as out of step with Pope Francis’ priorities.

Burkina Faso Church rules out prelate as head of transitional council

November 14, 2014

OXFORD, England - The Catholic Church in Burkina Faso has welcomed an agreement on restoring civilian rule after a late-October military takeover, but rejected suggestions the handover of power could be supervised by a Catholic bishop.

November 15

Soup’s On to support children’s charities

November 15, 2014

TORONTO - As a food columnist for 22 years at Canada’s largest newspaper, Catholic writer Mary McGrath tasted a lot of soup. Now she’s serving up her favourite recipes in a book to support children’s charities.

A year after Typhoon Haiya, Filipinos look forward to Pope Francis' visit

November 15, 2014

PALO, Philippines - One year after one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded crashed across the central Philippines, Church leaders in some of the worst-hit parts looked to Pope Francis' brief January visit to Leyte Island with hope, and slight trepidation.

Religious freedom ‘of concern’ in Canada

November 15, 2014

Canada has been rated a country “of concern” in the latest “Religious Freedom in the World” report issued by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

November 16

Pope Francis asked to avoid Turkey’s lavish 1,000-room presidential palace

November 16, 2014

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis’ penchant for austerity and humility will face a diplomatic challenge when he visits Turkey’s new ostentatious presidential palace on his first visit to the country later this month.

Salvadoran division that led to Jesuit massacre still evident

November 16, 2014

TORONTO - The memory of six Jesuit scholars, their housekeeper and her daughter should encompass more than the mass murders 25 years ago that sparked international outrage, said Jesuit philosophy student Kevin Kelly.