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March 2016

March 15

‘Miracles From Heaven’: Best-selling memoir gets dramatic movie adaptation

March 15, 2016

Nine-year-old Annabel Beam suffered from an incurable digestive disorder that put her in constant pain. But when she fell 30 feet, headfirst, into a hollowed tree, she came out of her ordeal unharmed and healed of her disorder. Oh yes, and she also had an encounter with Jesus in Heaven.

At Vatican trial, official says he felt threatened to release documents

March 15, 2016

VATICAN CITY - The secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See testified in a Vatican court that he felt he was being threatened and had little choice but to give confidential documents to two Italian reporters.

March 16

Report finds Church of England failed to deal with sex abuse by clergy

March 16, 2016

CANTERBURY, England - The Church of England has promised to make far-reaching changes in dealing with future sex abuse cases after the publication of the first independent review commissioned by the country’s established church into its handling of such cases in the past.

Syrian children bear the brunt of war tearing nation apart

March 16, 2016

With seven million Syrian children forced into poverty, almost three million out of school and two million living in cities under siege, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF estimates 80 per cent of Syria’s children have suffered harm in the five-year-old war.

French cardinal accused of cover-up in widening abuse scandal

March 16, 2016

PARIS - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called on a prominent cardinal to “assume his responsibilities” amid widening allegations of a pedophilia cover-up targeting Lyon’s Roman Catholic diocese.

Pope Francis to make debut on Instagram, Vatican official says

March 16, 2016

VATICAN CITY - Firming up his presence on social media, Pope Francis will make his debut on the photo-sharing app Instagram, a Vatican official announced.

Pope Benedict: Yearning for mercy is sign of longing for God's love

March 16, 2016

VATICAN CITY - Although he lives a relatively hidden life in a villa in the Vatican Gardens, retired Pope Benedict XVI continues to study modern theological questions and, occasionally, to comment on them publicly.

March 17

Stand and deliver

March 17, 2016

The real tragedy surrounding a suicide crisis that has devastated a remote Manitoba community is that it represents just the latest instalment in a Canadian saga that shows no sign of a final chapter.

The humble but strong virtue of hope

March 17, 2016

Christian hope is a humble and strong virtue that supports us, so that we do not drown under the many difficulties we face in life. That was Pope Francis’ message at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope said that hope in the Lord never disappoints us; it’s a font of joy and peace in our hearts.

On a rescue mission

March 17, 2016

Writing and speaking out against euthanasia is a blessing. There is something bracing about standing up for the truth.

Resurrection transforms lives of believers

March 17, 2016

Resurrection of the Lord (Year C) March 27 (Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18) The most profound and gripping theologies take the form of a story. Few people are moved by dry metaphysical speculations or hairsplitting, but many are moved by a powerful story. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is as one movie title had it, The Greatest Story Ever Told. Perhaps that is part of the problem in our own time — we have opted for an overly rationalized and skeptical approach to our faith, allowing the power and excitement of the great story to slip away.

Tears mourn barrenness

March 17, 2016

Several years ago, while teaching a summer course at Seattle University, I had a female student who, while happily married, was unable to conceive a child. She had no illusions about what this meant for her. It bothered her a great deal. She found Mother’s Day very difficult. Among other things, she wrote a well-researched thesis on the concept of barrenness in Scripture and developed a retreat on that same theme which she offered at various renewal centres.

More protection needed for religious freedom, says Rabbi Sacks

March 17, 2016

The Jewish argument for freedom of religion is embedded in the Old Testament, the former chief rabbi of Britain told an enthralled audience at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio March 15.

Irish rebels with a cause not forgotten

March 17, 2016

DUBLIN, Ireland - This Easter marks the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland against British rule, one of the most important events in Irish history.

As Syria war drags on, Vatican official notes sense of helplessness

March 17, 2016

VATICAN CITY - Five years after the war in Syria began, there is a "feeling of helplessness in front of an endless human tragedy," a Vatican official told the UN Human Rights Council.

U.S. secretary of state says Islamic State is committing genocide against minorities

March 17, 2016

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that atrocities carried out by the Islamic State group against Yezidis, Christians and other minorities were genocide, the first U.S. declaration of genocide since Sudanese actions in Darfur in 2004.

March 18

Pitfalls of looking for the perfect guy

March 18, 2016

I recently read an article written by a Catholic teen girl and what she believes every Catholic teen guy should be. She listed off things that (I agree) should be the foundation of any relationship, such as being faithful and respecting each others’ values.

Catholic education at its best

March 18, 2016

TORONTO - The Queen’s Park Dining Room was filled with the sounds of engaging and enriching discussion March 9 as Catholic representatives from across Ontario advocated for their education system.

Boko Haram causes ‘psychosis of fear’ to Cameroon Church life

March 18, 2016

OXFORD, England - A Catholic aid official warned that Church life faces "grave disruption" from Boko Haram in Cameroon after a local bishop confirmed the Nigeria-based group had caused a "psychosis of fear."

Surviving nun recalls Yemen massacre

March 18, 2016

ROME - A chilling, eyewitness account of a deadly attack on a Catholic nursing home in Yemen has detailed how four nuns were sought out by gunmen who then executed them before destroying the Christian symbols in the residence’s chapel.