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July 29, 2020
The days of living-room Mass, celebrated while still in pyjamas, are no longer the only option as churches have slowly re-opened for public services.
Our calendar of liturgical seasons is rather bare compared to some of our sister Catholic Churches. That is never more evident than in our long season of “Ordinary Time,” an uninspired translation of a banal original (in Latin, “Sundays of the Year”).
While the WE Charity scandal marches on, Catholic charities that had hoped to put young volunteers to work through the Canada Student Service Grant have been left wondering when and if they will ever see federal funding to support volunteer programs.
A nearly three-year process of investigation and review at the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has resulted in a slimmed-down national council with four bishops appointed to the development agency’s governing body.
July 30, 2020
BALTIMORE -- Thirteen years after naming a new residence hall at Loyola University Maryland in honor of the Catholic author Flannery O'Connor, Jesuit Father Brian Linnane, the university's president, removed the writer's name from the building.
Constant vigilance will be required from staff and parishioners at churches across Canada to safeguard against the rising tide of vandalism inflicted upon religious statues.
The reports were scattered at first, isolated news stories throughout the year of a statue toppled here, another spray-painted with graffiti there. This summer they have come more frequently — senseless acts of anti-Church vandalism that have grown bolder and more destructive.
Different rules Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized for so many wrongdoings of late. He’s “sorry” about blackface; he’s “sorry” about SNC-Lavalin; he’s “sorry” about the conflict of interest with WE Charity — involving payments to three of his family members, exceeding a total of $300,000, in exchange for public relations appearances for the charity. This preceded Ottawa’s granting WE a nearly one-billion-dollar contract they then cancelled. Mr. Trudeau operates by different rules.
Fr. David Reilander spent the early days of the COVD-19 shutdown alongside Catholic Missions In Canada’s financial and administration director Lina Kim diagnosing the potential impacts the pandemic would have on its operations.
Setsuko Thurlow, 88, isn’t just disappointed. She’s choking back tears of frustration and grief as she describes the response she’s had from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on nuclear disarmament over the last four years.
The number of medically-assisted deaths in Canada rose by more than 25 per cent in 2019 and made up two per cent of all Canadian deaths last year, Health Canada’s first annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada found.
A long-time fan of the Edmonton Oilers, I hold in my heart the glory days of the 1980s when my team won five Stanley Cups in seven years. It was an exciting time for both me and the city. Although I lived most of those years in Winnipeg, I remained a dedicated member of the Oilers’ diaspora.
Ontario’s high school and elementary students will be back in school in September, with significant provincial investment in measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
July 31, 2020
ST. ISIDORE, ONT. -- When the historic church in St. Isidore, built in 1879, was destroyed by fire after a lightning storm in 2016, the community vowed off that the spiritual centre of the small French-Canadian community in eastern Ontario would rise again.
I’ve always done my best thinking through writing, and the death of my younger brother Chris last month has given me a lot to think about. The thing is, his life had meaning, and so did his death. I write this to share just a few reflections on that meaning.
Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre donated 100 supermarket food vouchers and over 200 pre-made meals to help young people in need.
O, the irony! The historical figures lionized in the smash Broadway musical, Hamilton, are now having their statues torn down (or attempts to that effect) across the U.S.