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August 2020

August 26

Camp anchors online

August 26, 2020

The sun glistens across the calming blue water of Lake Erie. A bronze Mass bell rings loudly. Dozens of young girls soar out of cabins to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast before engaging in hiking, drama, sports, crafts and, at the end of the day, a roaring campfire.

Parish reform talks must include laity, say bishops

August 26, 2020

WURZBURG, Germany -- The German bishops plan to seek talks with the Vatican about its instruction on parish reforms in the Catholic Church, and want lay Catholics to take part in the discussions, according to the German Catholic news agency KNA.

Sr. Helena Burns: It’s time to cancel the ‘cancel culture’

August 26, 2020

Whether or not you’ve heard the term “cancel culture,” you’ve undoubtedly been observing it just about everywhere, gaining more and more traction.

With millions deprived of basic needs, Christians must act, Pope Francis says

August 26, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- Christians cannot stand idly by and watch as millions of people are deprived of their basic needs because of others' greed, Pope Francis said.

Public invited to attend pope's weekly general audiences starting Sept. 2

August 26, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- Twenty-six weeks after his last weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis will resume his audiences with the public present, but in a Vatican courtyard.

August 27

Parish finances looking for rebound

August 27, 2020

If you ever doubted the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, check out your parish’s COVID-era finances. After months of closed doors and no revenue, followed by months of full-cost operations for Sunday congregations that are a fraction of normal attendance, somehow your parish is still up and running.

Editorial: Invest in the future

August 27, 2020

The news that parishes have taken a financial punch to the gut during the pandemic is not surprising. What can’t happen is allowing them to wallow in financial uncertainty, threatening the services that have defined Catholic values and, in so many ways, our lives.

Readers Speak Out: August 30, 2020

August 27, 2020

Hate crimes It’s sad that we have come to a time when churches and statues of saints are being defaced and vandalized.

Care of the earth, concern for migrants are connected, Canadian cardinal says

August 27, 2020

VATICAN CITY -- Catholics will mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees during the ecumenical celebration of the Season of Creation, highlighting the obligation, as Pope Francis says, to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, said Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny.

Australian, English bishops discuss morality of possible COVID-19 vaccine

August 27, 2020

ROME -- More bishops are pleading with their governments to give priority to ethically developed coronavirus vaccines, but many also are telling Catholics that not getting vaccinated is a more serious moral problem than using the problematic vaccines.

‘Pere’ Murray’s legacy thrives in Wilcox

August 27, 2020

REGINA, SASK. -- Celebrations to mark this year’s centennial of Athol Murray College of Notre Dame at Wilcox, Sask., had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the pioneering spirit of the charismatic priest from Toronto who willed the college into being continues to resonate.

B.C. court to hear Delta hospice appeal

August 27, 2020

VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Court of Appeal has agreed to hear the case of the Delta Hospice Society, which is trying to keep assisted suicide out of its Irene Thomas Hospice.

Glen Argan: Humanity shows when we’re poor in spirit

August 27, 2020

When I was in Grade 8 at St. Augustine School in Regina, one of the priests at the neighbouring Little Flower Church frequently asked me to be the altar server at funerals. After a few of these ventures, my teacher told me to stop taking time away from school to serve at these Masses. I considered his command and decided that since this was a Catholic school, being the server at these funerals was the right thing to do. So, I engaged in my first acts of civil disobedience.

August 28

Compassion drives exiled Belarus leader

August 28, 2020

Some small part of the revolution now on display in the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities may have begun in Catholic, rural Ireland in the 1990s. It was there that Belarus’ likely-elected president who is currently in exile visited for a month each summer for 10 years, when she was between the ages of 12 and 22.

No place for negativity in this classroom

August 28, 2020

For 24 years Antonio Gambale’s classroom has been a place where all have been welcomed and accepted, and for that, the Niagara Region teacher has been recognized with the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Difference Maker Award.

Christians, others warn Turkey is 'weaponizing water' in northeast Syria

August 28, 2020

AMMAN, Jordan -- Parts of Syria's north where Kurds, Christians and Yazidis have practiced religious freedom in recent years are reportedly again under attack by mainly Turkish military and their allied Syrian Islamist fighters.

Gerry Turcotte: The garden of the soul

August 28, 2020

I am not a gardener. In fact, I moved into a house with a large garden a decade ago and I joke that I have killed off one species of plant each year. Except that it’s not a joke.

August 29

Home is where the inspiration is

August 29, 2020

Katja Murray didn’t have to look far for inspiration to make the leap into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math), a field where women remain largely on the outside looking in.

Softball star prepared to hit NCAA basepaths

August 29, 2020

Uncertainty surrounding varsity sports in light of the global pandemic has 17-year-old softball player Rachelle Zilavec admittedly anxious but optimistic as she weighs the prospects of even starting her freshman season this year.

Church-school bond remains priority despite pandemic

August 29, 2020

Canadian Catholic school boards are about to embark upon a September unlike any other due to COVID-19.