Browse › 2016 › June

June 2016

June 14

Vigils commemorate the victims slaughtered in Orlando mass shooting

June 14, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. – In Orlando and major cities around the United States and the world, people gathered June 13 to pay tribute to the 50 killed — including the gunman — and more than 50 injured in the shooting rampage in Orlando the previous day.

Anglican priest in Kenya joins lawsuit demanding greater rights for gays

June 14, 2016

NAIROBI, Kenya – An Anglican priest has joined two gay men and two lesbians in a suit against the state over discriminatory laws that they see as encroaching on the rights and freedoms of sexual minorities in the East African country.

June 15

Interfaith leaders call for palliative care strategy

June 15, 2016

OTTAWA – Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders united on Parliament Hill June 14 to issue a joint call for a well-funded, quality national palliative care strategy.

Senate changes to C-14 ‘very bad news’, opponents charge

June 15, 2016

OTTAWA – The Senate has put itself on a collision course with the House of Commons after it voted to amend the government’s assisted-suicide bill to include people who may not be facing imminent death.

Parish renewal conference draws worldwide audience to Halifax

June 15, 2016

HALIFAX – Size doesn’t really matter. That’s the hymn book Fr. James Mallon sings from and one of the principles he pushed at a two-day Divine Renovation conference that attracted more than 600 people from 11 countries to his city and his church in mid-June. “Size is a relative thing, it depends on who you are standing beside,” said the slight, 5-foot-7, 164-pound priestly dynamo.

Gordie Howe an animal on the ice, a saint off it

June 15, 2016

An amazing hockey player he may have been, but Gordie Howe’s greatest legacy will be that he was an even better human being, one who touched the lives of all of us and our families.

Florida Catholic Charities workers console, support victims’ families

June 15, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. – Since the worst shooting attack in America occurred June 12, Catholic Charities of Central Florida has been working in the background to help victims, survivors and family members in whatever way possible.

June 16

Pan-Orthodox Council turns into cliffhanger over boycott threats

June 16, 2016

After a gap of over 1,200 years, including 55 years of preparation, the planned Holy and Great Council of the Eastern Orthodox churches has turned into a cliffhanger only days before it is set to open.

The ‘Our Father’ is the cornerstone of our prayer life

June 16, 2016

Pope Francis said that prayers are not magic words for Christians and when we pray the ‘Our Father’ we can feel God looking at us and this prayer should be the cornerstone of our prayer life. His words came during his mass celebrated on Thursday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.

European bishops urge expansion of EU role in peacebuilding

June 16, 2016

OXFORD, England – A commission of Catholic bishops has called on the European Union to more actively promote peace and reconciliation to ease tensions and conflicts on country borders.

Senate passes amended assisted suicide Bill C-14

June 16, 2016

OTTAWA – Canada’s Senate passed an amended version of euthanasia and assisted suicide Bill C-14 June 15 that is almost certain to face backlash from elected Parliamentarians as it is sent back to the House of Commons.

Nuncio praises progress made on HIV/AIDS, warns against complacency

June 16, 2016

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, applauded recent progress made around the world to end the AIDS epidemic and warned against complacency on efforts to end the disease.

‘Special forces’ armed with skills to fight abuse

June 16, 2016

The Catholic Church has launched a new kind of "special forces" in the fight against child abuse.

Government rejects Senate’s assisted-suicide amendment

June 16, 2016

OTTAWA – The Liberal government today said it will reject a Senate amendment that would remove the requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable from its assisted suicide bill.

Youngest Orlando shooting victim just graduated from Catholic high school

June 16, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – Akyra Murray, who just recently graduated from West Catholic Preparatory High School, was the youngest victim of the Orlando nightclub shooting June 12.

June 17

Patriarch urges Orthodox leaders to attend Holy Council

June 17, 2016

ROME – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople called on his brother patriarchs and primates of the Orthodox churches to honour their commitments and join him for the Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church.

Vatican scientist's work inspired by his faith

June 17, 2016

For the budding Catholic scientist, many pundits present two exclusive and diverging paths. A person can take the path of science, reason and logic, or the path of religion, dogma and the intangible.

A return to old tradition

June 17, 2016

In a small farming village in southwestern Ontario a few weeks ago, the sun was shining, incense was permeating the air and the Most Blessed Sacrament was being adored in an outdoor procession.

Get it done

June 17, 2016

The prevailing legal vacuum around assisted suicide is unacceptable and begs a speedy end to the head-butting between the elected House of Commons and the unelected Senate — even if that means politicians forgoing summer vacations.

Too many couples do not understand marriage is for life, Pope says

June 17, 2016

ROME – Because most people today do not understand that sacramental marriage really is a bond that binds them to each other for life, many marriages today can be considered invalid, Pope Francis said.