Browse › 2016 › October

October 2016

October 16

Canadian-Australian mining firm’s El Salvador claim rejected

October 16, 2016

A Canadian-Australian mining company that went to court because the government of El Salvador wouldn’t give it a mining permit has had its $328 million claim rejected and was ordered to pay $10.5 million in legal costs to El Salvador.

The Pope is not the only keeper of the keys in the Vatican

October 16, 2016

VATICAN CITY – The sun is not yet up and Gianni Crea is making his way down a pitch-black corridor inside the Vatican’s world-famous museums.

Media reports miss ‘most beautiful aspects’ of 'Amoris Laetitia'

October 16, 2016

OTTAWA – The Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada has expressed disappointment that most media reports on the family-centred Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis have focused on homosexuality and on communion for the divorced and remarried.

October 17

Promote culture of life, inclusion, hope, Pope tells grandparents

October 17, 2016

VATICAN CITY – In a world that glorifies physical strength and appearances, grandparents must uphold the values that really matter and bring hope and wisdom to younger generations, Pope Francis said.

Toronto Anglican parish welcomes Schmalz's latest Christ sculpture

October 17, 2016

On a busy Bloor Street sidewalk outside a 174-year-old downtown Toronto church sits the likeness of a familiar figure wrapped in a stranger’s cloak.

Pope canonizes seven saints who 'fought the good fight of faith'

October 17, 2016

VATICAN CITY – The seven new saints of the church were holy not because of their own efforts but because of "the Lord who triumphs in them and with them," Pope Francis said.

Canonization of seven new saints

October 17, 2016

Pope Francis on Sunday canonized seven new Saints including Argentina's “gaucho priest'' Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero.

Colombian bishops urge government, rebels to commit to cease-fire

October 17, 2016

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombia's Catholic bishops urged the government and armed rebels to commit to an indefinite cease-fire while a new peace deal is negotiated after voters rejected an agreement that would have formally ended the Western Hemisphere's longest-running war.

Holy See, Italy tax agreement regarding the Vatican bank goes into effect

October 17, 2016

VATICAN CITY – Individuals and entities that have accounts at the Vatican bank and are subject to taxation in Italy will have until mid-April to report to Italian authorities the income earned by their Vatican accounts.

Congo's bishops working hard to steer nation to peace

October 17, 2016

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – As the most respected institution in Congo, the Catholic bishops' conference is putting enormous effort into steering the country onto a path to peace, said an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Some Iraqis hopeful, but aid groups have concerns about Mosul offensive

October 17, 2016

AMMAN, Jordan – Iraqi Christians are cautiously welcoming the start of the battle for Mosul and the Ninevah Plain, their ancestral homeland of the past 14 centuries from which they were brutally driven out by the Islamic State group more than two years ago.

October 18

A good shepherd shuns power and money and is never embittered

October 18, 2016

Pope Francis said a good shepherd is one who follows Jesus rather than power, money or cliques and even if deserted by everybody may be sad but is never embittered. He was speaking at his morning Mass on Tuesday celebrated in the chapel of the Santa Marta Residence.

Syrian refugees still suffering months after blasts at Lebanese border

October 18, 2016

QAA, Lebanon – When a series of bombs exploded in a Lebanese Christian village near the Syrian border in June, it not only changed the lives of the victims and their families, but also the lives of Syrian refugees living nearby.

Notre Dame sisterhood still going strong after 75 years

October 18, 2016

TORONTO – At Notre Dame High School, some things never change.

Ontario's bishops rally behind doctors fighting assisted suicide policy

October 18, 2016

OTTAWA – Ontario's bishops are putting their weight behind doctors who are going to court to defend their religious and conscience rights to refuse to refer patients for assisted suicide.

Jesuits called to reconcile humanity with God, new superior says

October 18, 2016

ROME – Jesuits are called to face the challenges of today's world and contribute toward "reconciliation among human beings and, at the same time, a reconciliation with God and creation," the newly elected Jesuit superior general said.

A McDonald’s at the Vatican? Cardinals aren’t lovin’ it

October 18, 2016

VATICAN CITY – Several senior cardinals in Rome are apparently furious about plans to open a new McDonald’s restaurant in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica and have reportedly asked Pope Francis to stop the expansion from going ahead.

Act now to process refugees, Bishop Crosby tells minister

October 18, 2016

OTTAWA – The president of Canada's bishop conference has written a frank letter to the federal Immigration Minister urging immediate government action to unclog delays in processing refugee applicants in order to preserve "confidence" in the refugee sponsorship program.

Bishops split with Kairos over legal, ideological issues

October 18, 2016

TORONTO – Canada’s Catholic bishops will no longer be part of Canada’s ecumenical social justice coalition known as Kairos.

October 19

Toppled Montreal cross exhibit resurrected

October 19, 2016

MONTREAL – A controversial artwork that a former Montreal mayor ordered destroyed on the eve of the 1976 Olympics because it was disrespectful to the Church has been recast and installed near a historic religious institution in spite of objections from the convent’s superior general.