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October 2023

October 23

Biden and Pope Francis discuss conflict in Israel and Gaza in phone call

October 23, 2023

President Joe Biden and Pope Francis spoke by phone Oct. 22 to discuss the conflict in Israel and Gaza and facilitating a path to "durable peace" in the region, according to the press offices of both leaders.

As synod winds down, members urged to sow patience

October 23, 2023

As members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops return home, share the results of their work and prepare for the final synod assembly in 2024, they must be on guard against people who will want to make them take sides as if the synod were a political debate, said Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe.

Gaza Catholic parish mourns fellow Christians killed in blast at Greek Orthodox complex

October 23, 2023

For Mother María del Pilar Llerena Vargas, "it was an image that will be very difficult to erase." The Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word from Peru, who is serving in the Catholic parish in Gaza, recalled the pain of watching the funeral of Christians killed in an Oct. 19 blast at a Greek Orthodox church.

October 25

Broken promises torpedo Bill C-314, says Fast

October 25, 2023

Conservative MP Ed Fast is “profoundly disappointed in the Liberal MPs who had promised” they would support Bill C-314, but ultimately chose not to when voting time arrived on Oct. 18.

Military’s ‘inclusive’ directive excludes God

October 25, 2023

A top-level directive ordering military chaplains to be gender-sensitive and include atheists in “spiritual reflections” on Remembrance Day is sparking unexpected emotional backlash, says Bishop Scott McCaig of the Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Safe-injection site slated for former Catholic house

October 25, 2023

Benedict Labre House, a Montreal non-profit that was once a Catholic “house of hospitality,” is at the centre of controversy over plans to operate a novel form of supervised injection site (SIS) at its new centre meters from a day-care and elementary school.

At this synod, equality is the dynamic

October 25, 2023

On Sunday Oct. 15, members of Concerned Lay Catholics had the opportunity to join Dr. Catherine Clifford for lunch following English Mass at the Jesuit Caravita community in Rome.

October 26

Dowd joins ecumenical working group

October 26, 2023

Bishop Thomas Dowd has been appointed co-moderator of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches.

Synod unity sustained despite deep differences

October 26, 2023

Fr. Damien MacPherson is monitoring the Synod on Synodality in Rome for The Catholic Register. This is his Week Three synopsis. The presence of confidentiality was briefly interrupted when, quite by accident, information from table discussions became accessible to the public. The event was caused when information was posted to a cloud serve accessible to the public. The incident was quickly corrected without revealing enough pertinent information to make a serious difference. In response, Pope Francis again called for prudence and confidentiality.

Stop Synod talk about women’s ordination

October 26, 2023

Have you been hearing news from the ongoing Synod on Synodality in Rome about proposals such as women deacons and ordaining women to the priesthood? As a former radical feminist who believed that women could and should be ordained to the priesthood, allow me to respond.

Military prayer ban denies chaplains’ purpose

October 26, 2023

“If you deny me before the world, I will deny you before my Father, which art is Heaven.” (Matt 10:33) With the recent salvo across the bow of religious rights and freedoms, the very person of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the Chaplain General, Brigadier General J. L. Guy Bélisle, a Roman Catholic Pastoral Associate, has turned inclusion into exclusion. It is shocking to think that the very department of the CAF intended Charter guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression would so readily enforce denial of those same rights.

Hamas massacre demands return to first principles

October 26, 2023

The first question in judging the morality of an action is not who performed the act but rather what action was performed. One would think that would be obvious, but in our day it isn’t. Too often otherwise immoral actions are given a nod of approval if it is our fellow partisans who perform those acts.

October 27

Canadians support Catholic hospital rights to refuse MAiD

October 27, 2023

Nearly three-in-five Canadians (58 per cent) believe religiously affiliated hospitals should not be forced to provide assisted suicide, according to the latest joint poll released by the Angus Reid Institute and the Cardus think tank on Oct. 17.

Verbatim: Statement of concern by Canadian Rabbinical organizations on a United Church report

October 27, 2023

A statement of concern published last year by six Canadian rabbinical organizations regarding a United Church of Canada report pertaining to Israel.

Young Christians a lifeline to Gaza neighbours

October 27, 2023

In a media world that portrays the Israel-Palestine conflict as simple hostility between people of the Judaic and Muslim faiths, the Christian presence in Palestine is minimized or erased.

Homecoming: A Catholic conversion

October 27, 2023

Tammy Peterson and her journey for truth

History matters

October 27, 2023

I am writing to express regret at the most unfortunate use of the word “Polish” when referring to a German Nazi concentration camp in an otherwise very interesting article published on Sept. 24 issue of The Catholic Register, a piece written by Carol Glatz (Catholic News Service).

Editorial: Tell it like it really is

October 27, 2023

Who knew that one day Canada’s Catholic bishops would share a common language problem with the big machers of Hollywood. Yet it appears neither group can collectively find its tongue to condemn Hamas unilaterally for its Oct. 7 butchery in Israel.

Calgary renewal targets mission, witness, family

October 27, 2023

As the new president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Calgary Bishop William McGrattan devoted his October to the Synod on Synodality in Rome, while at the same time his diocese in Canada launched a new five-year pastoral renewal process.

God's Word on Sunday: God demands justice for all, as should we

October 27, 2023

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Oct. 29 (Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40) Those who have “made it” in the world often forget their humble origins — in fact, many labour to cover them up. Similarly, immigrant nations sometimes forget their struggles and show little sympathy to new immigrants arriving on their shores. Often those who have suffered injustices visit these same misdeeds on others, forgetting their own experience of pain. Fortunately, some remember their hard upward climb and compassionately extend a helping hand to those struggling along behind them.