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October 2021

October 6

Citing lack of evidence, Vatican court clears two priests in sex abuse case

October 6, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- A Vatican court cleared two priests involved in a controversial sex abuse case at a minor seminary once located at the Vatican.

October 8

Worldwide synod begins at local level

October 8, 2021

There has never been a synod like the one that will begin Oct. 17 in cathedrals across Canada.

Glen Argan: God’s gifts are to be shared with all

October 8, 2021

Alberta residents will have their say later this month on the legitimacy of Canada’s system of equalization payments to poorer provinces. The United Conservative Party government of Jason Kenney has ordered a referendum, as part of municipal elections across the province, on whether the constitutional provision for tax sharing with poorer provinces should be abolished.

Fr. Raymond de Souza: Money will be raised, but how to spend it?

October 8, 2021

The Catholic bishops of Canada have made a “financial pledge” with a “target of $30 million” over five years “as a tangible expression of their commitment to walk with the Indigenous Peoples of this land.” Local parishes will be “encouraged” to take up special collections “to support healing and reconciliation initiatives for residential school survivors, their families and their communities.”

Rise in Canadian MAiD cases a sign of things to come

October 8, 2021

OTTAWA -- A surge in assisted death requests in Nova Scotia has seen the province put referrals on hold until the backlog can be cleared.

Editorial: The common good

October 8, 2021

Canadians have a new Parliament, but it is tough to distinguish it from the old one.

Readers Speak Out: October 10, 2021

October 8, 2021

Incomplete apology We can be grateful that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has finally issued an apology for the Church’s role in residential schools.

Pope Francis will not attend climate summit in Glasgow

October 8, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will not be going to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, as he had hoped.

Dioceses sending strong vaccination message

October 8, 2021

The message across the country for parishioners, volunteers and staff at Catholic churches is clear: please get vaccinated.

October 9

This campaign will have to be different

October 9, 2021

If Catholics really are going to raise $30 million to fund Indigenous-led reconciliation projects across the country, they’re going to have to run a very different campaign than the $25-million “best efforts” campaign that raised just $3.7 million between 2008 and 2014, say Catholic philanthropists and fundraisers.

Peter Stockland: ‘At least now there is acknowledgment’

October 9, 2021

Even in the world of what the late, great Allan Fotheringham called the “shy egomania” of journalism, moments of humility tilt unexpectedly upward their beautiful faces and make you see anew.

October 10

Van attack victim’s light still shines

October 10, 2021

The memory of Yonge Street van attack victim Anne Marie D’Amico and her positive and helping ways have been honoured with the North York Women’s Shelter unveiling a new building bearing her name.

God's Word on Sunday: Suffering Servant sets example for us all

October 10, 2021

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 17 (Year B) Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45 “It was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.” These words should leave us a bit — maybe even a lot — uneasy and puzzled.

October 12

Faith is not a transactional relationship with God, Pope Francis says at Angelus

October 12, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- People should ask themselves whether their faith has become a "commercial relationship" with God or if it is a relationship built on freedom, love and generosity, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis appoints new master of papal liturgical ceremonies

October 12, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis named Msgr. Diego Giovanni Ravelli, who has served as an official of the papal almoner's office since 2013, as the new master of papal liturgical ceremonies, the Vatican said.

Pilgrims flock to beatified teen's tomb in Assisi ahead of feast day

October 12, 2021

ROME -- Thousands of pilgrims have flocked to the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old Italian teenager whose use of technology to spread devotion to the Eucharist prompted Pope Francis to hail him as a role model for young people today.

October 13

‘We’re going to have to wake up to the fact there’s a systemic problem’

October 13, 2021

Over the past five years, on Tuesdays at noon at the Church of St. Louis d’Antin, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris near the Passage du Havre shopping centre, a shy, scholarly Canadian priest would approach the altar to offer Mass and call the assembly of immigrants and downtown shoppers to confess their sinfulness.

Sorrow must turn to action: Archbishop

October 13, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- Shame and sorrow are appropriate initial responses to the report on the extent of clerical sexual abuse in France, but the Catholic Church must move to action to protect children and to guarantee justice for victims and survivors, said Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna.

Speaking Out: Social benefits to Facebook shutdown

October 13, 2021

It was 10 years ago at Tony Romo’s Steakhouse Restaurant in Calgary.

Catholic youth keep Fatima message alive

October 13, 2021

A crowd of 100,000 pilgrims gathered in the Cova Da Iria Oct. 17, 1913, straining their eyes up to the sky over Fatima, Portugal, expecting a miracle. Suddenly, the sun burst forth from the rain clouds and danced in the heavens, emitting brilliant rays of light, as the masses, frightened, watched on.