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February 14, 2020
Even though a substantial number of people the Lok Manch organization serves are illiterate or never properly schooled, the easiest way to start a Lok Manch meeting is to have everyone stand up and recite the pre-amble to India’s constitution, said Jesuit lawyer Fr. Stanislaus Jebamalai.
OTTAWA -- Montreal’s English language school board is vowing to continue its fight in the courts against Quebec’s secularism law Bill 21 even though it has decided not to accept funding from a federal court challenge program and the fact that the school board will soon cease to exist.
OTTAWA -- As the federal government moves towards expanding who can access a legal medically-induced suicide, a vocal critic of state-sponsored death is demanding that conscience rights for doctors who don’t want to take part in what the Canadian government calls medical assistance in dying (MAiD) be protected by a federal law.
The youth event held each year in conjunction with the Serra Club’s annual Ordinandi Dinner in the Archdiocese of Toronto has fallen victim to the labour struggles between the province and its teachers’ unions.
A good friend of mine, a fellow scotch aficionado, sent me a story which is an adaptation of a well-known leadership story, popularized by Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
February 15, 2020
The idea of a welfare system in Ontario run by multinational, for-profit corporations strikes Dr. Gary Bloch as a bit odd.
OTTAWA -- An organization associated with the Catholic Church in Canada is happy to see the issue of slave labour being addressed within the Canadian government, but says that a proposed bill introduced in the Canadian Senate falls short of taking meaningful steps to actually have a real impact.
When I was a young journalist, I joined the Volunteers, a group associated with the Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (OMMI), a secular institute, and began to take part in their regular discussion groups. Early on, we discussed the five elements of the OMMI spirituality.
February 16, 2020
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 23 (Year A) Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 God called the people of Israel to be holy, just as God is. In Old Testament language, however, “holy” meant “set apart” or “completely different.”
A bioethicist who spent decades urging Catholics to plan for their last days by naming a substitute decision maker in an advance care directive is now incensed at the idea the government will likely allow the directive to be used to invoke euthanasia.
EDMONTON -- The life and legacy of Fr. Michael “Catfish” Mireau, who used pop culture references and Star Wars lightsabers to teach the faith, continue to stir hearts of young and old.
February 18, 2020
VATICAN CITY -- Jesus wants his followers to move from a formal observance of God's commands to an interior acceptance of them and, in that way, to no longer be slaves to sin and selfishness, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN CITY -- The decade-long process of updating the laws of Vatican City State is part of the Vatican's support for international commitments to protect people and safeguard vulnerable groups, who are "frequently the victims of new, odious forms of illegality," Pope Francis said.
VATICAN CITY -- An artistic masterpiece conceived by the Renaissance master Raphael are on display for one week in the Sistine Chapel to help celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist's death.
VATICAN CITY -- Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, denied allegations that money earmarked for helping the poor was used to invest in a London property deal.
OTTAWA -- The federal government wants four more months to change Canada’s assisted suicide rules to comply with a Quebec court decision that came down in September that said the existing regulations are too restrictive.
February 19, 2020
In his apostolic exhortation “Beloved Amazon” Pope Francis is talking about much more than just the Amazon.
It sometimes is interesting as to why God gave humans speech. I recently came across two YouTube videos from Ascension Presents, a Catholic apostolate, which tackles the issue of using obscenities, an area of improvement for myself. Like all of our gifts, we are called to use the virtue of modesty with this one as well.
Reflecting on each week’s Gospel is more than a private experience for Catholic youth in Northern Ontario. It is a public witness.
How does tyranny arrive? And what does it look like once it has? At times it comes like a bomb that overturns all existing norms. Think of a military junta or the sudden collapse of order following massive protests and riots.