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October 2023

October 19

Charities’ scholarships focus on special service

October 19, 2023

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto is deepening its commitment to support postsecondary learners by awarding five new scholarships — valued at $5,000 apiece — starting in 2024.

Verbatim: What has been said about Hamas attacking Israel

October 19, 2023

Excerpts from various sources commenting on the terror attack on Israel

Editorial: Bishops, find thy voice

October 19, 2023

Not even the horrifying violence spiralling beyond imagining in the Holy Land should blind us to Hamas’ ultimate responsibility for the carnage resulting for its Oct. 7 slaughter of Israeli innocents.

Let the revolution begin

October 19, 2023

I detest The Catholic Register. The paper is largely a fraud. A name change to The Register or, even more appropriately, The Anti-Catholic Register could occur without argument. The staff writers laud a pope who borders on the heretical with the current synod, is restructuring the Church in ways that are aligned with the world and against the faith, will ensure its demise, and whose very legitimacy as pope is being questioned.

Bill C-314 defeated, MAiD will be offered for mental illness next year

October 19, 2023

Conservative MP Ed Fast’s Bill C-314, which would have stopped the upcoming expansion of the Canadian euthanasia regime, was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons on Oct. 18 by a 167-150 vote.

Scholars note mixed Vatican response to Holocaust

October 19, 2023

Scholars at a conference examining the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII presented a mixed bag on how the Vatican responded to the horrors of the Holocaust.

October 20

Sask. school boards in tune with pronoun policy

October 20, 2023

The Saskatchewan government has tabled its Parents’ Bill of Rights Act — complete with the notwithstanding clause — to prevent children under the age of 16 from changing their names or pronouns without parental consent.

Russian Catholics embrace Pope’s support of Ukraine: archbishop

October 20, 2023

Catholics in Russia support Pope Francis’ frequent prayers for “the martyred people of Ukraine,” the head of the Catholic Church in Russia said.

The time of death promises eternal life

October 20, 2023

“We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:7-9). When we hear of death, there is sadness and there is grief. We are often confused when we see death. We really don’t understand death. However, when death occurs, the Church has spiritual practices in place that may help the faithful to reflect on their understanding of death and to help offer a dignified farewell to the deceased. The words of St. Paul give us an insight: the Church’s teachings of death and the funeral practices are based on one of the tenets of our faith — the Death and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Make gratitude the spiritual practice of seeing

October 20, 2023

Gratitude is our invitation at Thanksgiving, a feast to celebrate the work and gifts of harvest. In my corner of the world, it was the second consecutive year of drought for many farming families. My garden was well watered by the sprinklers, but I crowded the space. The pumpkins and tomatoes took over so the potatoes, carrots and beets were pretty sparse. Season to season, the abundance of harvest is not always the same. Thanksgiving comes anyway.

Following Christ through the sacred gutters

October 20, 2023

May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in the streets Psalms144: 14 On a recent trip to Toronto I inadvertently miscued my GPS and found myself wandering around a part of the city that I hadn’t yet explored. What struck me first was the extraordinary level of homeless people, encampments and other struggling individuals that I encountered — in some cases, block after block of people in need. The next thing that caught my attention, however, was that, like Vancouver where I live now, there was also an extraordinary number of faith-based community agencies set up in the most devastated areas of need, from churches to refuges.

Blessings of having a spouse in the house

October 20, 2023

Some years ago Brad Wilcox, the University of Virginia sociologist, gave a conference presentation about how mothers differ from fathers. The feedback forms revealed a portion of the audience thought the presentation was so self-evident as to be unnecessary. On the other side, a significant number were offended by the concept of sex differences in parenting.

Palestine ambassador says Vatican should play role in mediating end of 'carnage'

October 20, 2023

The Vatican, especially Pope Francis, must double its efforts and urge the international community to end the massacre of Palestinians killed in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestine's ambassador to Denmark said.

God's Word on Sunday: We all have our part in God’s playbook

October 20, 2023

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Oct. 22 (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; Psalm 96; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5ab; Matthew 22:15-21) As we make our way through the world, it is often difficult to distinguish who the villains and the heroes really are. Appearances often deceive, and Satan can come cloaked in light. Sometimes, however, those whom we initially thought to be covered in darkness reveal a bit of light.

Greek Orthodox church in Gaza damaged in blast

October 20, 2023

An explosion at the St. Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church campus in Gaza has left the administration building in ruins, and at least 17 people dead, though numbers have not yet been officially confirmed.

Family, faith guide scholarship winner

October 20, 2023

For Lilian Pham, winning the prestigious Schulich Leadership Scholarship was only possible because of the love and support of her family.

October 21

Newman chaplain answers ‘call within a call’

October 21, 2023

It is a long way from his native Igboland in Nigeria to the Newman Centre at McGill University, but Fr. Anthony Atansi finds himself as “at home” in one as the other.

Cemeteries can be hubs of learning, culture

October 21, 2023

Peter Nobes stood in a Nova Scotia cemetery filled with a void as he realized that his search for his great-great-grandfather’s grave was fruitless. There were no markings, no records; the grave had been lost to time.

October 22

Late archbishop key in B.C. colleges’ launch

October 22, 2023

Just before the turn of the new millennium, then Vancouver Archbishop Adam Exner, like many others, was asking himself the question, “What will the future bring?”

October 23

Pope Francis again calls for release of hostages in Gaza, discusses aid with Biden

October 23, 2023

Pope Francis called for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the humanitarian crisis and the need to de-escalate violence in the region.