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May 2015

May 4

Catholics join efforts to save Yezidi

May 4, 2015

TORONTO - For Ghina Al-Sewaidi — lawyer, Muslim and Iraqi-Canadian — the correct word to describe Islamic State attacks on Yezidi and Mandaean people is genocide. The correct response is to sponsor the survivors through Canada’s refugee system.

Pope defends Blessed Serra, prays for missionary zeal in Americas

May 4, 2015

VATICAN CITY - People seem to enjoy finding the shortcomings of candidates for sainthood like Blessed Junipero Serra, but they should ask themselves if they would have his generosity and courage to leave everything behind to care for the poor and bring them the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Civil liberties’ group onside with campus pro-lifers

May 4, 2015

TORONTO - Pro-life groups at Ontario universities have gained an influential ally in their fight for free speech on campus. The Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) released a position paper on April 29 opposing “the evident statutory and institutional bias that exists in Ontario against the free-expression rights of pro-life campaigners.”

Issues of marriage, sexuality should not threaten ecumenism, says Pope

May 4, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The dignity of human life, family, marriage and sexuality are "urgent" issues that "cannot be silenced or ignored for fear" of threatening ecumenical achievements, said Pope Francis during an audience with Archbishop Antje Jackelen of Uppsala, Sweden.

Week after quake, trucks of aid begin reaching remote areas of Nepal

May 4, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal - Truckloads of relief material organized by church charities began moving across Nepal a week after the Himalayan nation was rocked by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake April 25.

At Expo 2015, Vatican pavilion offers space for learning, relaxation

May 4, 2015

MILAN - The Holy See's official pavilion at the Milan Expo 2015, the newest edition of the every-five-years world's fair, will be a public space of relaxation and learning.

May 5

Jordan’s King honours Scarboro Missions’ for its interfaith efforts

May 5, 2015

TORONTO - In a world where the Islamic State threatens religious minorities in the Middle East, Boko Haram kidnaps Christian girls in Nigeria, Jews worldwide are forced to defend the existence of Israel, it might be said that interfaith relations are no walk in the park.

Pope suggests 'Divine Comedy' as important reading for Year of Mercy

May 5, 2015

VATICAN CITY - Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" is more than a literary masterpiece, it is an invitation "to rediscover the lost or obscured meaning of our human path and to hope to see again the glowing horizon on which the dignity of the human person shines in its fullness," Pope Francis said.

Vatican unveils logo, prayer, details of Holy Year of Mercy

May 5, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The Holy Year of Mercy will be an opportunity to encourage Christians to meet people's "real needs" with concrete assistance, to experience a "true pilgrimage" on foot, and to send "missionaries of mercy" throughout the world to forgive even the most serious of sins, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

Student strike has minimal effect on Catholic schools

May 5, 2015

TORONTO - As thousands of parents pulled their children from school for a week in protest of Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum, it seems the majority taking part are from the province’s public schools.

In paintings, Syrian artist shows the pain war has caused his country

May 5, 2015

WASHINGTON - The sad realities of Syria's civil war permeate the paintings of Essa Neima, a 34-year-old Syrian national. At a recent exhibit, his oil on acrylic works ranged from depictions of damaged church and mosque mosaics, to a broken icon of Mary and a refugee woman forced into servitude by the need to survive.

May 6

Deal imports American bottom-line accounting to Italy’s Catholic churches

May 6, 2015

VATICAN CITY - A number of Catholic parishes in Italy are set for a management overall, following a new training program launched May 5 between the Villanova School of Business in the United States and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

Pope Francis to meet Raul Castro ahead of Cuba visit

May 6, 2015

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis was scheduled to meet Cuban President Raul Castro at the Vatican May 10, less than five months ahead of the pontiff's visit to the island nation.

Archbishop Prendergast calls for support for a culture of life

May 6, 2015

OTTAWA - As the federal government prepares to begin consultations in order to draft euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation, the archbishop of Ottawa issued a pastoral letter that called on people to support a culture of life.

Muhammad cartoons 'blasphemous,' Vatican paper says

May 6, 2015

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican’s semi-official newspaper blasted a series of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad as “blasphemous” but also condemned the “mad and bloodthirsty” extremists who opened fire at a Texas exhibit of the cartoons.

May 7

Francis is a true transformational leader

May 7, 2015

While reading through former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s convocation speech at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia on May 3, it was as if he was talking about a modern-day Pope Francis leadership style.

Contrasts in evangelization

May 7, 2015

WINDSOR, ONT. - Between the feast days of Canada’s newest saints, the archbishop of Quebec City argued for an authentically Canadian approach to the evangelization of native peoples that offers a model for the evangelization of culture today.

God’s vision is there to see if only we open our minds and hearts

May 7, 2015

Ascension of the Lord (Year B) May 17 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20) Acts I of Luke’s magnificent account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus ended with the commission to the apostles in the upper room, the joyful reaction of His followers and the ascension of Jesus. When the curtain went up in Act II, Luke revisited the time between the Resurrection and the ascension. This time we are treated to a detailed account of what turns out to be a leisurely 40 days of instruction on the kingdom of God.

Professional Catholics must be professional and Catholic

May 7, 2015

According to the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, Catholic Register columnist Michael Coren was received into the Anglican Communion on April 19. Despite Coren’s fame as an apologist for the Roman Catholic faith, his break with Rome went almost unnoticed. The news was made public by a tweet congratulating Coren on his reception. This disappeared from Twitter, although not before a sharp-eyed reader took a screenshot and posted it to a blog.

It will take a nation to end modern slavery

May 7, 2015

By Joy Smith, Catholic Register Special On New Year’s Day, Pope Francis delivered his annual World Day of Peace message that passionately called for an end to modern-day slavery. The title, “No longer slaves, but brothers and sisters,” is taken from St. Paul’s letter to Philemon. Pope Francis noted that “slavery is rooted in a notion of the human person which allows him or her to be treated as an object” and highlighted the many forms of modern-day slavery, including “persons forced into prostitution, many of whom are minors.”