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January 2020

January 22

More shelters needed for volcano evacuees in Philippines, priest says

January 22, 2020

MANILA, Philippines -- A Catholic priest has appealed for more and better shelters for victims of a volcanic eruption in the Philippines after criticizing a local government response.

Speaking Out: Nature’s splendour sets spiritual tone

January 22, 2020

Reading the accounts of my great-grandfather’s memories of the First World War, I am given a glimpse into the truly brutal horror of the war field. Yet in the midst of the tales of the ugliness of war, I found one remarkable incident that stayed in my memory.

Northern reflections on a summer to remember

January 22, 2020

Spending two weeks of your summer in a remote northern Saskatchewan community may not be everyone’s idea of vacation, but for Sean McGowan, the experience has left an impression that will likely last a lifetime.

Bob Brehl: Do co-parenting sites threaten family?

January 22, 2020

Skipping love and marriage and going straight to the baby carriage is a growing phenomenon with a myriad of websites popping up over the last few years that link adults who want children, but not romance.

January 23

Israeli-Palestinian peace slipping away

January 23, 2020

Calling Gaza “an open air prison,” the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and bishops from Europe and the United States are warning that peace between Palestine and Israel is slipping away.

Readers Speak Out: January 26, 2020

January 23, 2020

Narrow viewpoint Re: Lost cause (Letters to the Editor, Dec. 29): So sad to read John Killackey’s narrow viewpoint of the recent political downfall of the Conservatives.

Editorial: Two’s a crowd

January 23, 2020

The Hollywood production The Two Popes has been earning Oscar nominations and praise as a must-see movie. But the film, which imagines conversations in 2012 between an aging Pope Benedict XVI and the soon-to-be Pope Francis, is a two-hour escape into fiction, totally unlike the drama now unfolding which stars the past and current pope.

Put people first, Pope Francis tells leaders at Davos

January 23, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis told global business and government leaders that everyone has the moral responsibility to seek the integral development of all people, but especially those who are in need, suffering injustice or whose lives are threatened.

Czerny takes over Rome parish

January 23, 2020

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, son of migrants to Canada and head of the Vatican department that works on behalf of migrants and refugees, took possession of his parish in a heavily immigrant neighbourhood of Rome Jan. 19.

B.C. hospice to stay true to its call

January 23, 2020

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A suburban Vancouver hospice is prepared to forego hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funding rather than bow to government pressure to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Some Chinese churches suspend activities because of coronavirus

January 23, 2020

HONG KONG -- Some churches in China have suspended community activities, including Mass, over fears of the deadly coronavirus virus that has already killed six people and continues to spread, reported ucanews.org.

Cathy Majtenyi: Euthanasia questionnaire asks the wrong questions

January 23, 2020

Somewhere tucked between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s press conferences earlier this month about the tragedy of the Ukrainian Airlines crash was a bombshell of another kind: changes coming to federal legislation that pave the way for more Canadians to end their lives prematurely.

January 24

New research details Catholic inmates at Auschwitz

January 24, 2020

WARSAW, Poland -- A Polish researcher has published the first study of religious practices among Christian prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau, as the 75th anniversary of the Nazi-run death camp's liberation was marked in Israel and Poland.

The Bourgeoys revolution: Celebrating 400 years of St. Marguerite

January 24, 2020

Calling a woman who toiled in New France in the mid-1600s Canada’s first great feminist might draw a laugh from some, but not Sr. Susan Kidd.

Sport and faith: It’s more than a game

January 24, 2020

When it comes to books about sports, there’s plenty of “fun reads” out there, but Matt Hoven saw there was something missing for those who take the study of sport seriously.

‘Too much emphasis on religion,’ says minister

January 24, 2020

QUEBEC CITY -- Complaining that current courses place “too much emphasis on religion,” Quebec is set to eliminate its Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum, according to the province’s education minister.

Trebek counts on ‘power of prayer’

January 24, 2020

LOS ANGELES -- From his childhood days in Sudbury, Ont., through to his battle with cancer, Alex Trebek has believed in the power of prayer.

Pope Francis meets with Mike Pence at Vatican

January 24, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- After Pope Francis and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met privately for nearly an hour at the Vatican, Pence told the pope that his Roman Catholic mother will be pleased with the visit.

Abuse happens within women's orders, too, cardinal says

January 24, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- Sexual abuse and the abuse of authority have occurred and are occurring within religious orders of women and must be addressed with transparency and boldness, said Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Trump delivers in-person address at March for Life in Washington

January 24, 2020

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump credited attendees at the 47th annual March for Life for their commitment to protect the life of unborn and born children.