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January 2024

January 24

Nightfever invites guests into Christ’s presence

January 24, 2024

The Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth hosted the youth-driven initiative Nightfever Jan. 21 at Halifax’s St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, offering passersby an invitation to join in prayer.

January 25

'We give thanks to God!' says Haiti archbishop as six nuns are freed from captivity

January 25, 2024

The six nuns kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 19 have been freed, and the archbishop of the capital was overjoyed and thankful at the news.

Pope Francis clears the way for the canonization of Canadian blessed

January 25, 2024

Pope Francis signed a decree clearing the way for the canonization of Canada-born Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

Convert hunted by Islamists seeks asylum

January 25, 2024

From radical Islamic extremist determined to convert “infidels” to his faith, to the leader of a Christian organization in Germany, Raza Muhammad’s journey has been fraught with danger at every step of the way.

Verbatim: Sr. Nancy Brown on combating human trafficking

January 25, 2024

Sr. Nancy Brown, of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee, says the Feb. 8 Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita should focus attention to combat the scourge.

Quebec opens doors to its 350th anniversary

January 25, 2024

As the Archdiocese of Quebec embarks on a jubilee year to mark its 350th anniversary, it hopes to strike the right balance between celebrating the significant historical role played by the archdiocese while acknowledging the sober realities facing the modern Church.

Emma Venusio shines on ice and off

January 25, 2024

Bishop Allen Academy student leads Team Canada to U-18 bronze

Editorial: Catholics beware

January 25, 2024

Jordan Peterson put a target on his own back several years ago by speaking clearly and simply against mandated use of “gendered” pronouns and proper names. More recently, his critics have mocked him mercilessly as a cartoonish poster boy for the conservative “anger-tainment” industry.

False guilt

January 25, 2024

Anna Farrow rightly points in her Jan. 21 story “Media buy-in drove graves social panic” to the preface of Chris Champion and Tom Flanagan’s book Grave Error. Champion and Flanagan stress that while contributors to the book do not speak with a unanimous voice, “all authors in this collection agree on the main point: that no persuasive evidence has yet been offered by anyone for the existence of unmarked graves, missing children, murder or genocide in residential schools.”

Moving onward means accepting human limits

January 25, 2024

In his beautiful Apostolic Exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis reminds us that as pastoral people we have to accept tension between fullness and limitation, and not be concerned with immediate results.

Laughter is God’s medicine for the world

January 25, 2024

As a humourist I have often asked myself if my lighter reflections were appropriate in a time of such deep division and grief. As a columnist for over 10 years, there have been times when I have wondered if I should change tack, focus on darker or more politically edgy work, addressing the catastrophes of our times. It is surely fair to ask if one’s lightness, at a time of dark, is fitting or even welcomed. Truth be told, I continue to be torn. Humour, I know, has had a role to play in every context since the beginning of time, as a mediating influence, a salve or as a weapon to address contentious topics.

God is with us

January 25, 2024

As the end of the Advent season drew near, I was blessed with an Emmanuel moment that became a Christmas gift that has kept on giving.

Ski hills don’t care that we are fallen

January 25, 2024

One winter when I was 13 and my brother was 14, we took a family trip to New Hampshire. To ski. Because my brother really wanted to. He promised he would teach me how to ski. My elderly dad, an avid outdoorsman and sports enthusiast, had never, however, in his long life, skied, and was wary of its potential dangers involving bone protrusions and close encounters with trees. He agreed to take us despite.

God's Word on Sunday: We’re drawn to God through inspired words

January 25, 2024

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Jan. 28 (Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28) Who is the mystery prophet of whom Moses and God spoke? He was never named and virtually no clues or hints were given. This led to speculation throughout the centuries, with the prophetic label pinned on different candidates. In the New Testament, he is simply referred to as “the prophet coming into the world,” and many thought that Jesus fit the role perfectly.

Quebec cardinal named in sex-assault class action

January 25, 2024

Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix of Québec was named in court documents Jan. 25 in connection with a sweeping class-action sex assault lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Québec in 2022.

January 26

Canadian priest breathes new life into dying languages

January 26, 2024

A Canadian priest has launched a new phase in his efforts to preserve the threatened languages of the Makushi and Wapishana Indigenous peoples in the vast Diocese of Roraima in northern Brazil.

Attawapiskat eager for church rebuild

January 26, 2024

St. Francis Xavier Church in Attawapiskat, one of the churches destroyed in a rash of fires across the nation in 2021, is set to rise from the ashes.

Cardinal Lacroix steps aside until sex abuse allegations are clarified

January 26, 2024

Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix has just announced to his principal collaborators that he is temporarily withdrawing from his activities until the situation (involving sexual abuse allegations) is clarified.

January 28

Stonemason resurrects P.E.I. rectory

January 28, 2024

T Harv. Eker, the Canadian businessman, author and motivational speaker who espouses that a person’s mental attitude is foundational in creating wealth, once said “it’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You have to be the right person in the right place at the right time.”

January 29

Pope Francis says document on blessings makes clear that the Gospel is for all

January 29, 2024

Making a list of which sinners are welcome in the church and which sinners are not goes against the teaching of the Gospel, Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper.