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May 10, 2016
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican is funding a job-creation program for Iraqi refugees in Jordan, a country that is hosting close to 1.5 million refugees, but is struggling to provide work for them.
EDMONTON – A smiling St. Joseph's College employee poked her head around Danica Wolitski's door and said, "We've got another family with three children."
May 11, 2016
MANILA, Philippines – The head of the Philippine bishops' conference said it was time to "get up" and be faithful to God, as millions of Filipinos elected Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte president.
TORONTO – During five years Enrico Colantoni spent at the Fr. Henry Carr Catholic High School as a student, the religious and lay educators became his family.
TORONTO – It is a collection of beads hung on a chain or a piece of rope, anchored by a cross. The rosary may not look like much but it is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons Catholics can carry.
It is possible that Canada’s Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, has a sense of humour or a real flair for irony, but odds are she meant what she said as the Liberal Government invoked time closure on May 4 and shut down debate on the assisted dying legislation.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to heed a letter from more than 160 Latin American organizations that has raised concerns about the operations of Canadian mining companies abroad.
OTTAWA – Canadian plans to export abortion to Africa “reeks of colonialization and it reeks of cultural imperialism,” a Nigerian scientist told a gathering of MPs and senators.
NAIROBI, Kenya – Jesuit Refugee Service has urged Kenya to reconsider its plans to close camps that host hundreds of thousands of Somali and South Sudanese refugees.
OTTAWA – The federal government is set to begin funding abortion in the developing world, reversing the policy of the Harper government to not provide funding for such procedures overseas.
May 12, 2016
OTTAWA (CCN)—On May 11, the day before the annual National March for Life, a carpet of nearly 7,000 crocheted, knitted and sewn baby booties adorned Parliament Hill to send a prolife message.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis told the heads of women's religious orders from around the world that he would set up a commission to study the New Testament deaconesses and he also insisted more can and should be done to involve lay and consecrated women in church decision-making at every level.
In recent decades Fort McMurray and the oil industry it symbolizes has divided Canadians. The Alberta oil hub was regarded as either a badge of national prosperity or symbol of ecological disgrace. The arguments were fierce.
Have you heard the one about the long-time politician preaching to Catholics about morals and obligations?
Jesus prays for the unity of Christians, but within the Church there are those who sow weeds (It: zizzanieri), those who divide and destroy the community with their tongues. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
MANILA, Philippines – Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's win in May 9 national elections was "a strong reminder that people want change," said Fr. Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, the country's largest Catholic radio network.
ROME – The Italian government's approval of a controversial bill that grants legal recognition to non-married heterosexual and homosexual couples is a defeat for democracy and family life, an Italian bishop said.
In a recent article in America magazine, Grant Kaplan, commenting on the challenge of the Resurrection, makes this comment: “Unlike previous communities in which the bond among members forges itself through those it excludes and scapegoats, the gratuity of the Resurrection allows for a community shaped by forgiven-forgivers.”
Trinity Sunday (Year C) May 22 (Proverbs 8:23-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15) How does one describe something that is infinite and ineffable in terms that humans can understand? The writers of the Scriptures often used poetry and metaphor, but even these attempts fell short of the majesty of God. No concept, doctrine or metaphor can ever contain the divine reality — they merely point to it and present it to us in the broadest strokes.
OTTAWA – Thousands descended on Parliament Hill May 12 for the annual National March for Life as the Liberal government within the walls of Parliament was rushing a bill through that will legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.