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April 2016

April 16

Stigma, lack of health care, fake drugs impeding HIV fight, speakers say

April 16, 2016

VATICAN CITY – The fight against HIV/AIDS is being hampered by continued stigma against those who are infected, a lack of access to appropriate medical care and fake antiretroviral drugs pedaled on the black market, said activists taking part in a Caritas Internationalis conference that wrapped up this week.

April 17

The Bible is among 10 ‘most challenged’ books of 2015

April 17, 2016

What does the Bible have in common with Fifty Shades of Grey or one of John Green’s best-selling young adult novels?

Worldwide vocation boom expected to soon bring influx of priests to Canada

April 17, 2016

MONTREAL – Vocations to the priesthood may be lagging in North America and Europe, but the ranks of Scalabrinian priests are swelling in other parts of the world, according to Fr. Joseph Fugolo.

There are no dark days for engineer turned pilgrim of faith

April 17, 2016

QUEBEC CITY – As a pilgrim, Ann Sieben had just walked 5,000 km from her hometown of Denver to Quebec City, making it just in time for the Easter triduum.

Cyberspace mined for next generation of religious

April 17, 2016

When Sr. Mary Rowell was growing up, religious communities were everywhere. They ran schools, colleges, parish activities, hospitals and day care centres.

Oblate superior drawn early to life as a missionary priest

April 17, 2016

OTTAWA – In 1976, in preparation for his final vows to become an Oblate priest, Fr. Louis Lougen asked God for “the grace to be a missionary.”

Education goes beyond curriculum

April 17, 2016

Toronto – American Jesuit Father Greg Boyle told Ontario educators they must stand with the poor, the vulnerable and anyone who is rejected by society.

April 18

Jesus is the door, path, voice to heed

April 18, 2016

Pope Francis said Mass on Monday morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. Following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father offered some reflections on the theme of docility to Christ, who is the door through which we must pass if we would enter into eternal life, the way we must take if we are to reach eternal life, and the voice of the teacher who has words of eternal life.

'It makes you weep,' Pope says of refugees' stories

April 18, 2016

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM GREECE – When an aide suggested Pope Francis offer to fly some Syrian refugees back to Rome with him, the pope said he agreed immediately because it was "an inspiration of the Holy Spirit."

Kenyan nun killed in Yemen remembered during memorial Mass

April 18, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan member of the Missionaries of Charity killed in an attack on a nursing home in Yemen was remembered during a memorial Mass as defending her Catholic faith at the time of her death.

From nightmare to dream: Syrian refugees thank Pope for safety

April 18, 2016

ROME – After less than 48 hours in Rome, "dream" is the word used most often by the six Syrian adults Pope Francis brought back to Italy with him from a refugee camp in Greece.

April 19

Young nun, postulants among hundreds of Ecuador earthquake victims

April 19, 2016

WASHINGTON – Six members of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, including a young nun from Northern Ireland, are among the dead in the strongest earthquake to strike Ecuador since 1979.

Flaubert named new auxiliary bishop for Montreal

April 19, 2016

OTTAWA – Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Alain Faubert, C.S.S., as the new auxiliary bishop of Montreal

Faith leaders plea for conscience protection for health care workers

April 19, 2016

OTTAWA – Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders have joined together to appeal for the protection of conscience rights for health professionals and institutions in Canada’s new assisted-death bill.

Pope reminds world of suffering in war-torn Ukraine

April 19, 2016

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis' pleas for humanitarian aid for Ukraine is bringing needed attention to a forgotten war, said Ukrainian Catholic leaders.

April 20

To Gaetano Gagliano, the Church came before his business empire

April 20, 2016

TORONTO – From a distance Gaetano Gagliano was a perfect representative of Toronto’s Catholic establishment. He was a rich man whose business empire employs more than 1,300.

Blitz could open doors to 700 refugees

April 20, 2016

In what will be a record year for refugees finding a new home in the Archdiocese of Toronto, an 18-hour flurry of paperwork may have made the difference for as many as 700 Syrian refugees.

Ex-Vatican PR consultant loves Trump even if Pope Francis doesn’t

April 20, 2016

ROME – It’s hard to see how Francesca Chaouqui could find herself any more at odds with Pope Francis than she already is, given that the Italian PR consultant is on trial in the Vatican for leaking sensitive documents that made the pontiff’s reform efforts look bad.

Education, trauma counseling key to helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon

April 20, 2016

ZAHLE, Lebanon – On a rainy spring day, the misery of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees is compounded as they shelter in dilapidated shanties dotting a long muddy swathe of the verdant Bekaa Valley.

Our Poles. Our Planet Environmental Conference Inspires Toronto Youth

April 20, 2016

Polar adventurer Geoff Green posed an ethical choice to an audience of more than 200 Toronto Catholic high school students.