Browse › 2023 › August

August 2023

August 10

Charity demands shaking hands at Mass

August 10, 2023

One of the most oft-quoted passages of the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 13:1: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” The ensuing verses are probably the most popular option for the epistle in the Roman Catholic Nuptial Mass and why wouldn’t it be at an occasion when we are celebrating the love between the bride and groom?

August 11

Ontario Catholic college a vocations’ breeding ground

August 11, 2023

Nine priests. Four professed religious sisters. Four seminarians. Three novitiates. Two transitional deacons. One sister poised to profess her final vows.

Southdown to launch program for clergy on discerning boundaries

August 11, 2023

Following a 50-country conference on safeguarding against clerical sexual abuse, Southdown Institute’s Fr. Stephen Kappler is launching a pilot project this month to train clergy on boundaries, abuse of spiritual power and healthy integrated sexuality.

August 12

Ottawa Madonna House mission to close

August 12, 2023

After nearly 50 years serving as a cellphone-free refuge for prayer and silence in the centre of Ottawa, a mission house of the Madonna House Apostolate is closing its doors.

Catholics in fear following Koran burnings

August 12, 2023

It’s a burning issue from Sweden and Denmark to Iraq and Pakistan. Two Koran-burning incidents by individuals in the two Scandinavian countries have ignited furious reactions in Iraq, Pakistan and much of the Muslim world, leaving Christian minorities there even more vulnerable to extremist hatred.

August 14

Catholics appeal for help as Biden declares Maui's deadly fires a federal emergency

August 14, 2023

Catholic Charities Hawai'i in the Honolulu Diocese has appealed for donations to help the agency meet housing, food and other needs of what could be thousands of victims from wildfires raging on the island of Maui that wiped out an entire town and drove people to seek refuge in the ocean.

August 15

Pope Francis entrusts prayers for peace to Mary, assumed into heaven

August 15, 2023

On the feast of Mary's assumption into heaven, Pope Francis entrusted to her people's prayers for peace, especially in Ukraine.

Vatican investment office reports $35 million profit for 2022

August 15, 2023

The Vatican investment office made 32.27 million euros (about $35.2 million) in profit in 2022 and contributed the entire amount to the Vatican's operating budget, said Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.

August 16

Ottawa teacher facing sexual assault charges

August 16, 2023

An Ottawa Catholic District School Board teacher was arrested Aug. 10 and charged with five counts of sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

'Miraculous' survival of Maui Catholic church seen as sign of hope amid wildfire destruction

August 16, 2023

"For us, it's like a miracle," Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, the Honolulu Diocese's vicar of Maui and Lanai, said about Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in the town of Lahaina being seemingly untouched by the fierce Maui wildfires Aug. 8-9.

In Colombia, priests and lay workers will help monitor ceasefire

August 16, 2023

The Colombian bishops' conference has welcomed the beginning of a six-month ceasefire between the nation's military and the largest remaining rebel group in the country, and began to train dozens of priests and lay workers from different parts of the country on how to help monitor the truce.

August 17

Church leaders 'deeply pained,' condemn anti-Christian vandalism in Pakistan

August 17, 2023

The Pakistani Catholic church strongly condemned the Muslim mob attack on churches and Christian properties Aug. 16 and demanded justice.

Nicaragua regime shuts down Jesuit university, accuses it of 'terrorism'

August 17, 2023

The Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua suspended operations Aug. 16 after Nicaraguan authorities branded the school a "center of terrorism" the previous day and froze its assets for confiscation -- actions marking an escalation in the regime's repression of the Catholic Church and its charitable and educational projects.

God's Word on Sunday: All welcome to love God, walk in His ways

August 17, 2023

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Aug. 20 (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28) The command of the Lord was forceful and unambiguous: maintain justice and do what is right. It doesn’t require a theology degree or private revelations to understand, and yet people find this extraordinarily difficult.

August 18

Bishop evacuated, asks for prayers as NWT wildfires grow

August 18, 2023

Catholic churches have thus far been spared from the more than 200 wildfires sweeping through the Northwest Territories, according to Bishop Jon Hansen of the Mackenzie-Fort Smith diocese.

August 21

Jesuits evicted from residence after Nicaragua university seized

August 21, 2023

Nicaraguan officials evicted a team of Jesuits from their home in the capital city of Managua shortly after seizing a prestigious university from the religious order -- an act the Society of Jesus called a "spectacle."

Pope Francis tells lawyers he's writing a new document on the environment

August 21, 2023

Thanking a group of European lawyers for their attention to environmental protection laws, Pope Francis said he was preparing another document on the subject.

August 22

Churches, so far, survive wildfires

August 22, 2023

Wildfires wreaking devastation across British Columbia and the Northwest Territories have apparently spared Catholic churches, though numerous other buildings cannot say the same thing.

'We are willing to die for the name of Jesus,' persecuted Christians say as world marks day of awareness for religion-based violence

August 22, 2023

On the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief, observed on the United Nations' calendar Aug. 22, Pakistan and India are among places of particular concern for Christian rights advocates.

August 23

Cardinal Burke sees 'grave harm' coming from synod process

August 23, 2023

The synod process underway around the world and at the Vatican is inflicting "evident and grave harm" on the Catholic Church, retired U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke wrote in a letter published as the foreword to a book.