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February 2023

February 1

Ouellet’s Rome service comes to an end

February 1, 2023

Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s long career in the highest ranks of Church leadership is coming to a close. Pope Francis has accepted his resignation, sending him off into retirement.

Report reveals Vanier’s history as abuser

February 1, 2023

Single, married and even nuns, Jean Vanier abused at least 25 adult women over six decades even while he founded the international movements of L’Arche and Faith and Light, and inspired millions of Catholics around the world with his insight into the Christian life.

Insomnia led to Benedict resignation

February 1, 2023

Pope Benedict XVI’s biographer revealed that the late pontiff for years suffered from insomnia and exhaustion, which ultimately led him to resign from the papacy.

Pope Francis, in Congo, calls for an 'amnesty of the heart' to build peace

February 1, 2023

In a country where most people are Christian and all are suffering from decades of violence and atrocities, Pope Francis told the Congolese to lay down their weapons and their rancor.

Victims of violence in Congo share their grief with Pope Francis

February 1, 2023

Ladislas set a machete under the crucifix. Bijoux laid a wicker mat there. And Emelda dropped military fatigues.

February 2

'The Babylon Bee' takes aim at Canada's MAiD madness

February 2, 2023

The popular humour-satire site The Babylon Bee has been taking jabs at the Trudeau government’s promotion of “Medical Assistance in Dying” and at the moral absurdity of euthanasia itself.

Canadians rank low in Mass attendance

February 2, 2023

In Nigeria, 94 per cent of Catholics say they go to Mass at least once a week. In Canada, 14 per cent. In Quebec, two per cent.

Verbatim: Sr. Nancy Brown fights against human trafficking

February 2, 2023

Nancy Brown, Sister of Charity, has fought against human trafficking for more than 20 years.

Editorial: Truth will set us free

February 2, 2023

We need only look at the Gospels to see how doubt and even denial camouflage critique.

Saving ourselves from overzealous safetycrats

February 2, 2023

My 86-year old joyful and faithful father has a cheeky toast that he likes to trot out once in a while. With glass raised, he proffers “Death to temperance!” It’s witty and always gets a laugh from family and friends. Yet, the wittiness of the toast draws back the curtain on our present societal stage more then one might expect.

For the love of God unity is essential

February 2, 2023

St. Paul’s hymn of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is commonly used as the New Testament reading at weddings. It is a good choice as it is a reminder that love can be difficult and that it requires husband and wife each to go beyond their comfort zone for love to be real.

Pope Benedict called us to love in truth

February 2, 2023

The human person “is not a lost atom in a random universe.” Rather, each of us is “God’s creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul and whom He has always loved.”

Learning to love as God loves us

February 2, 2023

Sam was trying to decide if he should apologize to a high-school friend of his. They’d gone out for lunch, re-connecting after having being out of touch for a while. To Sam’s surprise, his friend Kim remarked smilingly, responding to a story he’d recounted: “I can see how that happened to you. You always were a fool and a nuisance.” The conversation continued, but a sick feeling in Sam’s stomach stayed with him throughout lunch and long after they’d parted.

MAiD for mentally ill delayed by Parliament

February 2, 2023

The expansion of assisted suicide in Canada to those suffering solely from mental illness is being delayed by a year.

February 3

New hope for MAiD opponents

February 3, 2023

Opponents of MAiD have a golden “window of opportunity” to change public opinion, but the trade-off is they can’t slam the door shut on those with differing views, warns veteran physician Dr. Peggy Gibson.

Yanomami tragedy called ‘genocide’

February 3, 2023

At least 570 children dead, images of emaciated women desperately trying to feed babies who seem to be swimming in and out of consciousness, adults with skin stretched over shoulders and rib cages — these revelations strewn across Brazilian media have missionaries, Brazil’s bishops and even newly installed Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva using the word “genocide.”

God's Word on Sunday: Fighting injustice the essence of worship

February 3, 2023

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Feb. 5 (Isaiah 58:6-10; Psalm 112; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16) Spiritual illiteracy is one of the principal weaknesses of our time. It is far too common to read the Scriptures without sensitivity or understanding, seeking only lists of prohibitions, rules and details of proper worship.

February 4

Canadian groups unite to aid Ukrainian refugees

February 4, 2023

As war rages in Ukraine, Canadian settlement assistance groups have rallied their forces to help 132,000 Ukrainian nationals fleeing the violence.

Pistons assistant coach ready for leap of faith

February 4, 2023

Fr. John McKenzie first noticed Andrew Jones III in the halls of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Mich., where Jones was holding his son, Andrew IV.

February 5

Famed wooden Church has uncertain future

February 5, 2023

Believed to be the largest wooden church in North America, the historic Église Sainte-Marie in Church Point, N.S., will be sold or demolished in the upcoming weeks.