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November 11, 2015
NAIROBI, Kenya - From stitching 2,000 vestments to training large-scale security teams, Catholic Church leaders and Kenyan officials say they’re ready to host Pope Francis.
Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Archbasilica of St John Lateran on Monday evening in a ceremony that included the ordination of a new auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Rome.
TORONTO - Foster parent Cindy Stirling has been a difference maker.
VATICAN CITY - A family that chooses to watch TV or play with their smartphones rather than talk at the dinner table is "hardly a family," Pope Francis said.
MEXICO CITY - Pope Francis is exploring the possibility of visiting the previously problematic border city of Ciudad Juarez, where a battle between drug cartels during the past decade cost more than 10,000 lives in a four-year period.
TORONTO - Taking the time to remind ourselves of the sacrifices made by others for our freedom is what makes Remembrance Day ceremonies so special, St. Michael's College School vice-principal David Lee told his students.
November 12, 2015
TORONTO - Almost 20 years after his death, the extent of Fr. Henri Nouwen’s influence in the Catholic community is still being discovered.
Justin Trudeau’s promise to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year end is implausible. Totally ridiculous. Absurd. So let’s roll up our sleeves and make it happen.
Last week, two vibrant Catholic voices spoke on the same night in venues across the street from each other in downtown Toronto.
Christ the King (Year B) Nov. 22 (Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37) Who hasn’t wished for some supernatural power to come from above and set the world right? In the chaos, fear and violence of our world it often seems that there is no way out. We are faced with numerous crises of every type — political, economic, environmental and religious.
Recently I read, in succession, three books on suicide, each written by a mother who lost one of her children to suicide. All three books are powerful, mature, not given to false sentiment and worth reading: Lois Severson, author of Healing the Wound from my Daughter’s Suicide: Grief Translated into Words, lost her daughter, Patty, to suicide; Gloria Hutchinson, who authored Damage Done, Suicide of an Only Son, lost her son, David, to suicide; and Marjorie Antus, who wrote My Daughter, Her Suicide, and God: A Memoir of Hope, lost her daughter, Mary, to suicide. Patty and David were in their mid-20s, Mary was still a teen.
MEXICO CITY - Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit the capital, Mexico City, along with the states of Chihuahua and Chiapas -- on the northern and southern borders respectively -- and Michoacan in western Mexico.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama may have denied the permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, but Nebraskans Susan and Jim Dunavan aren't so sure the $8-billion project is dead yet.
OTTAWA - Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe is stepping down after more than a quarter century helming the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario, the Canadian bishops’ conference announced Nov. 12.
November 13, 2015
Mark your calendars. Find all your friends and tell them to do the same. From Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, 50,000 heads of state, foreign dignitaries, private sector innovators and environmental advocates will gather in Paris to discuss global initiatives related to curbing the effects of climate change — this year’s biggest UN environmental conference. Frankly, I can barely control my excitement.
TORONTO - Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti said the best advice she can give to a girl is to find her own path and be her own inspiration.
TORONTO - Fr. Guy Desrochers can’t help but chuckle when he hears that a woman has asked St. Anne, patron saint of unmarried women, to help them find a husband.
TORONTO - Money, memory and many hands are all being assembled to help Toronto get ready to help Syrian refugees when they arrive. With a big assist from one anonymous donor, Toronto city councillor Justin Di Ciano is well on his way to providing $500,000 to help the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Project Hope reach its $3-million fundraising goal by Dec. 15.
WASHINGTON - "Time is of the essence" to get humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine as winter sets in, a group of Ukrainian religious leaders said in a Nov. 9 appeal to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Pope Francis said God is the greatest glory and warned believers against the temptation to deify earthly things and even to idolize our habits. Instead, he said, we should be looking beyond these things to the transcendent, to God the creator, whose glory never fades. The Pope’s words came during his homily at his Mass on Friday (13th November) celebrated at the Santa Marta residence.