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January 2015

January 22

It is all about the unborn

January 22, 2015

During my 14 years in the pro-life movement, I’ve been physically attacked, had rocks, condoms, ketchup thrown at me, had speeches picketed, been publicly mocked, and have had horrible things said about my family, most especially my mother who had me as a result of an unexpected teen pregnancy. I have also had the honour of knowing Mary Wagner for close to five years and have accompanied her numerous times as she has been arrested for disregarding a court order and handing out roses at abortion clinics.

Our words must reflect our lives

January 22, 2015

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Feb. 1 (Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 7: 32-35; Mark 1:21-28) Movements and new organizations often do not survive the death of the founder. Usually something vital is lost and the original charism begins to fade.

The importance of the interior and private

January 22, 2015

We can never be challenged too strongly with regards to being committed to social justice. A key, non-negotiable summons that comes from Jesus Himself is precisely the challenge to reach out to the poor, to the excluded, to those whom society deems expendable.

'Wall of ignorance' fuels Holy Land fears

January 22, 2015

OTTAWA - A Canadian bishop who travelled to Gaza with the annual Holy Land Co-ordination visit to the Middle East Jan. 11-12 says fear is the biggest obstacle to mutual recognition of human dignity in the region.

Wealth gap obscene

January 22, 2015

Despite the economic downturn of recent years, bank accounts of the world’s billionaires have grown deliberately fatter as the financial canyon between rich and poor has widened. It has reached a point that by 2016 the world’s richest one per cent could own more than half the planet’s wealth.

St. Joseph Vaz, the great missionary saint

January 22, 2015

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - Passing through Rome on the way to the Jan. 14 canonization of Fr. Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Sri Lanka, I heard something extraordinary from Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints.

Politics must have a broader horizon

January 22, 2015

“I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor!” Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel)

Why Catholic education still matters

January 22, 2015

One benefit of having a large Catholic university like the University of Notre Dame is that it can allocate resources to support the Catholic community and Catholic education in a variety of ways. One such way is a program called ACE RISE, run by Fr. Ronald Nuzzi, PhD.

St. Felix Centre teams with city to stay open during deep freeze

January 22, 2015

TORONTO - Catholics in the city have forged relationships with secular partners to provide the homeless somewhere safe and warm during the sometimes fatally freezing temperatures of Toronto’s winter.

Toronto priest treasures saint’s lamp that kept flame of faith alight

January 22, 2015

TORONTO - A light in the darkness has travelled across centuries, cultures and continents to wind up in Fr. Joseph Chandrakanthan’s living room in Toronto.

Boston cardinal: 'We shall overcome' in fight against abortion

January 22, 2015

WASHINGTON - Evoking a phrase long associated with the civil rights movement, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston told an overflow crowd in Washington that "we shall overcome" in the fight against abortion.

January 23

Chaplaincy seed planted at U of T’s Scarborough campus

January 23, 2015

TORONTO - A Catholic chaplaincy has begun at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, the last of the university’s three campuses to receive its own permanent Catholic chaplaincy.

Eating no longer a neutral act

January 23, 2015

I was thrilled to hear that my university’s office of campus ministry was hosting a “100-mile meal” potluck, preparing a meal made with ingredients found within 160 kilometres of my home. By eating locally we become proactive agents of change. We support our local farmers and our economy.

Republicans abandon anti-abortion bill

January 23, 2015

Abortion opponents marking the huge annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 22 and anticipating legislative gains by a Republican-dominated Congress were thrown into disarray after GOP leaders unexpectedly withdrew an anti-abortion bill that had been seen as a done deal.

Christianity's survival in Mideast highly unlikely

January 23, 2015

MONTREAL - The long-term survival of Christianity in the Middle East is threatened and “humanity in the region where Christianity was born will not be the same without it,” a spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need told a seminar in Montreal this week.

Church in Central African Republic readies plans for papal visit

January 23, 2015

OXFORD, England - Pope Francis plans to visit the Central African Republic late this year in an effort to end two years of intercommunal violence, the vice president of the country's bishops' conference confirmed.

January 24

Sainthood cause of Focolare's founder officially opens in Italy

January 24, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The sainthood cause of the founder of the Focolare movement, Chiara Lubich, was to open officially Jan. 27 in the cathedral of the Italian Diocese of Frascati, which includes the town where the international lay movement is based.

The revolution of the pill: controversial to this day

January 24, 2015

The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution by Jonathan Eig (W. W. Norton & Company, 409 pages, $32.95 in print, $16.05 on Kindle).

What’s God got to do with football devotion? Plenty

January 24, 2015

Did God lift Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s overtime pass into the end zone in the conference final, rewarding the prayerful Christian player with a championship victory and a trip to the Super Bowl? Millions of Americans may think so.

TCDSB program helping parents improve children’s communication skills

January 24, 2015

TORONTO - Parents of Toronto Catholic kindergarten pupils are becoming better equipped to support, enhance and enrich the development of their child’s communication skills.