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January 7, 2015
TORONTO - Priests need to preach the Church’s teachings on end-of-life issues more frequently to better spiritually prepare parishioners for the inevitable, Fr. Kevin Belgrave believes.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, a senior American churchman in Rome who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Pope Francis’ push for reform, is roiling the waters yet again, this time arguing that the Catholic Church has become too “feminized.”
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is helping Catholic dioceses and agencies step up the fight against Ebola and is urging other donors to help.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis condemned the killings of at least 12 people at the Paris offices of a satirical weekly newspaper Jan. 7 and denounced all "physical and moral" obstacles to the peaceful co-existence of nations, religions and cultures.
From imprisonment to torture to beheadings, more Christians worldwide live in fear for their lives than at any time in the modern era.
January 8, 2015
Fr. Daniel Chui lost his battle with cancer on Dec. 21. The Basilian priest passed away suddenly inside his room at Anglin House, the Basilian retirement home in Toronto, after a three-year battle with esophageal cancer.
TORONTO - John Mihevc, a sojourner in Africa, a pioneer in ecumenical social justice work, teacher and writer, has died at the age of 56.
An American survey from more than a year ago showed that 45 per cent of people usually make New Year’s resolutions and another 38 per cent never make them. But only eight per cent of people are successful in achieving their resolutions. Self-improvement and weight-related resolutions are the most popular, followed by money-related and relationship-related vows.
VATICAN CITY - Interreligious reconciliation and recovery from natural disaster will be major themes of Pope Francis' Jan. 13-18 visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, according to the Vatican spokesman.
VATICAN CITY - The morning after 12 people were shot to death and 11 others injured at the Paris office of a satirical weekly newspaper, Pope Francis dedicated his early morning Mass to the victims and their families.
TORONTO - As he lay dying, Spiritan Father John D. Geary didn’t just listen to classical music on the stereo in his room, he conducted the invisible orchestra.
ROME - There is excitement here about the papal visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines next week. For those with longer Roman memories, they know that it celebrates the 20th anniversary of an extraordinary pilgrimage by St. John Paul, one that marked the beginning of the heroic last decade of his pontificate.
As NDP leader Thomas Mulcair pointed out in a year-end CTV interview, January marks the start of a federal election year in Canada. Although voting is not expected for another 10 months, virtually every Ottawa eyelash flutter will be decoded for its electoral significance this year.
Tonga, Myanmar, Cape Verde — the countries read like answers from a geography quiz. They may not be the easiest places to find on a map, but these small nations will soon be represented in Rome when Pope Francis welcomes 15 new voting-eligible cardinals into the Church.
VATICAN CITY - In his appeals for an end to the persecution of minorities in Syria and Iraq, Pope Francis often has mentioned both the Christians and the Yezidis attacked by Islamic State fighters.
“The family is a biggie for Catholics!” That was how a Buddhist student in my class, Introduction to Catholicism, responded when asked why he chose marriage in the Catholic Church as the topic for his final project.
A Belgian bishop who has been touted as a future leader of that country’s Catholic hierarchy is making waves by urging the Church to find ways to recognize gay relationships in which “exclusivity, loyalty and care are central to each other.”
January 9, 2015
Penance in Medieval Europe, 600-1200 by Rob Meens (Cambridge University Press, softcover, 290 pages, $29.99). At a time when the Sacrament of Penance is in decline, a new history of early Medieval penance helps put today’s apparent crisis in a much longer perspective. Rob Meens offers a scholarly overview of the formative period when sacramental confession emerged. He takes readers back to when Catholicism appeared very different from what we expect today, a journey which some might find unsettling, others enlightening.
WATERLOO, ONT. - Every Sunday evening, the voices of the St. Jerome’s University choir can be heard ringing from Siegried Hall, where they practice before students gather for Mass, fellowship and a break from their busy lives.
A few weeks ago, I attended a special prayer service. Led by two bishops (one anglophone, one francophone), it gathered Church dignitaries to celebrate an anniversary. The service was surprisingly moving: a remarkable result at the commemoration of a Church document not so many of us, even within the Church, have ever heard of. The two bishops, and three other Church leaders, reflected on passages from Ephesians and John.