Browse › 2021 › November

November 2021

November 10

Glen Argan: Personal liberty, yes, but common good comes first

November 10, 2021

Today, I phoned to book a haircut only to find that Pat, my stylist of the past two years, had died of the delta variant of COVID. When I last saw him in late August, he looked fit and healthy as ever. I phoned back a month later to set my next haircut appointment but was told Pat was off work because he was having back problems. He died shortly after that call.

Sr. Helena Burns: Spiritual warfare is for everyone

November 10, 2021

Some people like to think of life as a journey, an adventure, a pilgrimage, a blank slate, a beach, a work of art … a box of chocolates. But life isn’t always that neutral, is it? Sometimes we are dealt a rough hand from the earliest moments of our existence. Sometimes life is filled with pain and obstacles. We are free to look at life however we want, but one thing is for sure: Life is a battle, and no one gets to sit on the sidelines.

Christian unity week goes live again in 2022

November 10, 2021

The virtual has become normal and for lots of things it’s not bad. Virtual ecumenism, however, just isn’t a thing. “I’m sorry. The ecumenical work of promoting Christian unity is face-to-face,” said Archdiocese of Toronto officer for Christian Unity and Jewish Dialogue Rev. Dr. Luis Melo. “It’s about relationships. It’s about receiving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.” While Melo understands that virtual meetings are probably never going away, he is certain that Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox and Anglican parishes won’t start gathering for prayer or sitting down to dinner together again until it is safe and normal to do so. “The priority with many of our parishes and congregations and churches, ecclesial communities, is going to be on re-gathering our own communities,” Melo said. “Because they’ve been dispersed, necessarily dispersed, and are slowly coming back.” Melo sees things looking up for the 2022 Week of Prayer for Christianity, Jan. 18-25. The annual liturgy bringing together Church leaders to pray for each other has been scheduled for Jan. 23 at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Scarborough. Unlike last year’s all-virtual, sparsely attended service, this year will feature both live and online prayer. The Greater Toronto Area Council of Churches is the co-ordinating body for the service. This year the Week of Prayer will feature a strong strain of Eastern Christian spirituality, given its origins. The prayers, theme and key Gospel passage for the week were prepared this year by the Middle East Council of Churches, drawing attention to the ancient roots of Christian faith in the land where Jesus lived. The churches have chosen the story of the Magi, Matthew 2:1-12 as the key to prayers, reflection and liturgy for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. “The Magi reveal to us the unity of all nations desired by God,” the Middle Eastern Council of Churches writes in its introduction to this year’s Week of Prayer. “They travel from far-off countries, and represent diverse cultures, yet they are driven by the same hunger to see and know the newborn king, and are gathered into the little house in Bethlehem in the simple act of giving homage and offering gifts.” A kit with Bible study materials, liturgy and homily suggestions, hymns and children’s activities is available for free at www.weekofprayer.ca/2022-wpcu-resources. The Catholic Register and Melo will also be reaching out to Catholic school boards in the archdiocese to invite students to participate in the annual Friars’ Student Writing Awards, sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement.

November 11

Climate protest witness to global problem

November 11, 2021

In the bright sunshine of a cool fall day, Catholics and other Christians brought their voices, protest signs and faith to a gathering of about 2,000 people on the front lawn of Queen’s Park Nov. 6 in a Global Day of Action at the halfway point of United Nations climate talks in Glasgow.

‘Truth about poverty is complicated’

November 11, 2021

We are divided, sorted, separated. As the gaps between us grow, society slides into the abstract. Our concrete reality is the opposite of society. Day to day we experience life as individuals. We live in a tight circle of economic security that revolves around our lonely selves.

Editorial: Called to serve

November 11, 2021

There is no shortage of inspiring stories in Church history, none more compelling than the winding trail of faith, providence and persistence that led to one of the most iconic organizations of charity — the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Polish church leaders offer support for refugees, but back border security

November 11, 2021

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's military archbishop urged security forces to prevent the illegal entry of refugees and migrants, as the country's bishops' conference announced a nationwide collection to help those amassing on the frontier with Belarus.

Readers Speak Out: November 14, 2021

November 11, 2021

Cost saving Re: Short visit works best (Fr. Raymond de Souza, Nov. 7): Fr. de Souza is fearful that the costs associated with a reconciliation-oriented papal visit to Canada will divert funds from Catholic-sponsored reconciliation projects. He asserts that the papal visit should be short, structured and shaped by the fiscal priority that “the only solution is not to spend a dime more than necessary.”

The fight goes on for euthanasia opponents

November 11, 2021

Bill C-7, which will expand access to a medically-assisted death, is the law of the land and no doctor or nurse practitioner can be charged under the criminal code for ending the life of a patient who asked for the procedure so long as the right forms were filled out.

November 12

St. Mike’s recommits to protecting students

November 12, 2021

With the book being closed on the court cases involving seven students involved in a highly-publicized hazing and sexual assault at Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School, the prestigious Catholic private school says it remains “deeply committed” to measures put in place to make sure such an incident doesn’t occur again.

Authors make the case for basic income strategy

November 12, 2021

In November 2017 people lined up for hours in Lindsay, Ont., in hopes of registering for Ontario’s basic income pilot program.

Pope Francis visits with poor in Assisi

November 12, 2021

ASSISI, Italy -- With a pilgrim's staff and mantle, Pope Francis entered Assisi's Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels with 500 economically or socially disadvantaged people and the volunteers who walk alongside them.

Concordat confusion: One thing remains certain, the Mi’kmaq remain a Christian nation

November 12, 2021

When Pope Francis steps onto Canadian soil he will also step into the nexus of pain, sorrow anger and regret that has come to define the relationship between the Church in Canada and Indigenous people. But these failures were not our starting point.

Cathy Majtenyi: Rejecting ancestry creates dangerous path

November 12, 2021

It was a shocking revelation. A recent CBC investigation revealed that Dr. Carrie Bourassa, one of Canada’s leading Indigenous health researchers, is actually of Eastern European descent.

November 13

Catholic school Canada’s first to go carbon-neutral

November 13, 2021

John Paul II Secondary School in London, Ont., is Canada’s first self-sufficient, carbon-neutral school, drawing on solar and geothermal energy for its power needs.

Luke Stocking: In God’s name, ‘social poets’ rise

November 13, 2021

Jonathan Castillo is a cartonero in Argentina — a collector of discarded recyclables.

November 14

Religious goods caught in supply woes

November 14, 2021

Canada’s Catholic gift stores are not immune to the problems that have turned into a global supply chain crisis.

Vincent de Paul keeps going and going

November 14, 2021

Richard Pommainville, in his latest Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP) newsletter address, likens the non-profit global charity to the Energizer Bunny.

God's Word on Sunday: God will have ultimate victory

November 14, 2021

Christ the King, Nov. 21 (Year B) Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18: 33b-37 Much of our theology, religious imagery and prophetic visions are created at least in part by our experiences.

November 15

Pope Francis urges Ratzinger Prize winners to hold fast to truth like Pope Benedict

November 15, 2021

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Honoring an Australian theologian, a French philosopher and two German theologians, Pope Francis prayed that they may continually be inspired by retired Pope Benedict XVI's episcopal motto, "Cooperatores veritatis" -- co-workers in the truth. During a midday meeting in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace Nov. 13, Pope Francis awarded the Ratzinger Prize to Tracey Rowland, an Australian theologian; French philosopher Jean-Luc Marion; and German theologians Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz and Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger. After the ceremony, the four awardees visited Pope Benedict at his home in the Mater Ecclesia monastery in the Vatican Gardens. Rowland and Marion won the prize in 2020, but the ceremony was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ratzinger Prize recognizes theologians, specialists in sacred Scripture or artists, scientists or philosophers who have enriched theological studies by their work. The pope chooses the winners from a short list of candidates recommended by a five-person committee of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation, which was established in 2010 to support theological research and to promote studies on the theology and teaching of the retired pope. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, president of the foundation, said the award is not a recognition of a particular book or project, but considers "the long and in-depth work" of the winners. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, introduced Rowland's work, noting how, from the time of her doctoral dissertation, "the presence of the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, alongside other masters such as (Jesuit Father Henri) de Lubac and (Alasdair) MacIntyre, has been significant." "Her research has developed in fundamental theology and theological anthropology along an itinerary of dialogue with culture, often presenting to the contemporary world the Christianity of the Incarnation with originality," the cardinal said. "Emblematic in this perspective are both her 'Guide for the Perplexed,' whose title refers not only to Benedict XVI but also to the medieval Jewish experience of dialogue proposed by Moses Maimonides, and 'Ratzinger's Faith,'" a book on the theology of Pope Benedict. "Tracey Rowland's research has constructed a significant portrait of Ratzinger the theologian but also offered a significant look at the challenges facing the church in post-conciliar theology and contemporary culture," Cardinal Ravasi said. Bestowing the awards, Pope Francis paid tribute to the gifts God has given the scholars and to the way the scholars have developed those gifts. "The dynamic of the human mind and spirit in knowing and creating is truly boundless," he said. "This is the effect of the 'spark' ignited by God in the person made in his image, capable of seeking and finding ever new meanings in creation and history, and of continuing to express the vitality of the spirit in shaping and transfiguring matter." "But the fruits of research and art do not ripen by chance and without effort. Recognition, therefore, goes at the same time to the prolonged and patient effort that they require to reach maturity," he said. The scholars' dedication "is an invaluable service for the elevation of the spirit and dignity of the person, for the quality of relationships in the human community and for the fruitfulness of the mission of the church." Pope Francis noted how the winners had drawn on and built on the work of people who had gone before them, educating "us to think in order to live our relationship with God and with others ever more profoundly (and) to direct human action with virtues and above all with love." "Among these teachers there is a theologian who was able to open and nourish his reflection and his cultural dialogue toward all these directions together, because faith and the church live in our time and are friends of every search for truth. I speak of Joseph Ratzinger," he said. When Professor Joseph Ratzinger was named archbishop of Munich, Pope Francis said, he chose his episcopal motto, "Cooperatores veritatis," from the Third Letter of John. The words "express the common thread of the different stages of his life, from his studies to his academic teaching, to his episcopal ministry, to his service for the doctrine of the faith -- to which he was called by St. John Paul II 40 years ago -- up to his pontificate, characterized by a luminous magisterium and an unfailing love for the truth," Pope Francis said. "'Cooperatores veritatis' is therefore also the motto that stands out on the diploma given to the awardees, so that it may continue to inspire their commitment," he said.