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October 22, 2018
When Archbishop Fergus P. McEvay started the St. Elizabeth Nurses in Toronto 110 years ago, it was all about the beginning of life. Four qualified midwives were stationed in the city’s poorer neighbourhoods to deliver babies, ensure the mother’s health and then get those babies baptized.
Peel police are investigating a rash of thefts at three Catholic cemeteries in Mississauga, Ont., where thieves have made off with bronze vases from gravesites.
Sr. Mary Aquinas did not necessarily fit the stereotype of a nun in the first half of the 20th century. Aside from prayer, Sr. Aquinas was accomplished in many other fields, including aeronautics, electronics, physics and education. She earned her pilot’s license in 1942 and in 1957 was honoured by the U.S. Air Force for contributions to national security and world peace. That same year she became the first nun to fly a jet plane. She bore no resemblance to the Sally Field character in the 1960s TV sitcom The Flying Nun, but she was no less famous in her own fields of endeavour. Sr. Aquinas shared her passions across the continent, including a stop in Montreal in October of 1958, dutifully reported by The Register. Sr. Aquinas died at age 91 on Oct. 20, 1985.
VATICAN – John Paul II spent much of his papacy speaking to youth. Now some of those youth are bishops.
VANCOUVER – Dehumanized. Spat on by a professor. Attacked. Assaulted.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced Oct. 22 the launch of a hotline and email address to report child sexual abuse by clergy.
October 23, 2018
VATICAN – Survivors of abuse in Chile believed they had won a major victory when they heard a Chilean court recognized that the Archdiocese of Santiago prevented a thorough investigation into sexual abuses committed by a former priest, Fernando Karadima.
KOCHI, India – A priest who had been a key witness in the charge of rape against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur died Monday, prompting a police investigation into his death.
KATHMANDU, Nepal – Nepal has introduced a ban on pornography as part of a government initiative to stem the country’s high rate of sexual assault.
MONTREAL – In a statement issued a few minutes after the broadcast of a story from Radio-Canada investigating sexual abuse allegedly committed by 10 Oblate missionaries in First Nation communities, the Quebec Assembly of Catholic Bishops told of their "indignation and shame" for the "terrible tragedy of sexual and physical abuse of minors by members of the clergy or religious communities."
VATICAN – The synod's final document will seek to address issues concerning all young people and not just those issues facing young men and women living in Western countries, said members participating in the Synod of Bishops.
Leaving Christianity:Changing Allegiances in Canada since 1945 by Brian Clarke and Stuart Macdonald (McGill-Queen’s University Press, softcover, 304 pages, $35.00)
The victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in the recent Quebec election reflects the growing acceptance of political parties vowing to tighten immigration policies and numbers.
October 24, 2018
VATICAN – Every heart longs for unconditional love and fidelity, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN – Pope Francis said young men and women today need to learn from their elders what led to the great wars of the 20th century so "they won't fall for the same mistake."
VATICAN – The Catholic Church must be a place of justice and mercy, and its members must be catalysts for change, some young observers have told the Synod of Bishops.
WASHINGTON – Days after the Catholic Church declared Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero a saint, a judge in El Salvador issued a capture order for a former military captain suspected of killing the religious leader in 1980 as he celebrated Mass.
VANCOUVER – Nothing could have prepared Adelaide for the nightmare that was 18 years of her life.
Helping 5.8 million Canadians out of poverty isn’t a charity project. It’s about building a better economy and living up to the human rights we proclaim as a nation, said the author of a new report on poverty.
From the Pope on down, sentiment is growing to more fully integrate women into the everyday life of the male-dominated Church. So far, though, it’s been a lot of talk and too little action. Events at this month’s Synod of Bishops on youth illustrate that point.