March 2024

Pope Francis reviews his life and shares dreams for future in new book

Cindy Wooden · March 18, 2024

Asked to reminisce about his life and where he was at key moments in history, the 87-year-old Pope Francis obliged, but also used the opportunity to talk about the lessons the events hold today and his hope for the future.

Report concludes Oblate abused Nunavut children

Joannès Rivoire fled Canada in 1993, refuses to return

Quinton Amundson · March 19, 2024

Following an exhaustive investigation, retired Superior Court of Quebec Justice André Denis concluded French priest Joannès Rivoire was guilty of sexually assaulting five minors in Naujaat, Nunavut, between 1968 and 1970, and one in Arviat and Whale Cove, Nunavut, between 1974 and 1979.

Chrism Mass celebrates Indigenous ways

Anna Farrow · March 19, 2024

Sault Ste. Marie Bishop Thomas Dowd asked his priests to take a road trip last week to Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island to celebrate the Chrism Mass.

Manitoba introduces ‘bubble zone’ law

Law would prevent protests near abortion clinics

Quinton Amundson · March 20, 2024

The Manitoba government is following in the footsteps of provinces like British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec by advocating for legislation prohibiting pro-life protests, demonstrations and picketing near clinics and hospitals that offer abortion and the residences of abortion providers.

Catholic aid critical as Gaza crisis deepens

Humanitarian catastrophe looms, aid agencies say

Susan Korah · March 20, 2024

Staring death, destruction and starvation in the face on a daily basis, Christians in Gaza are staying steadfast to their commitment to love and serve, sharing ever-dwindling resources with their Muslim neighbours, report employees of two Catholic charities active in the Middle East.

Recognition, honour, respect

Bishop Thomas Dowd · March 20, 2024

I first heard about Holy Cross Mission in Wiikwemkoong not long after I became Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. My first official visit to the Mission was to celebrate confirmations and to bless a new altar.

Conscience rights’ battle rages in Nova Scotia

Luke Mandato · March 21, 2024

Christian physicians in Nova Scotia have taken up the fight against the province’s College of Physicians and Surgeons over a policy that would force physicians to refer patients for euthanasia, abortion and transgender services.

Ruling threatens diocese’s work

March 21, 2024

The Archdiocese of Montreal argues in a court filing it is being obliged to “assist in what constitutes ‘murder’ ” by being denied a temporary exemption to keep MAiD out of a local palliative care centre. The claim came in an appeal filed March 15 seeking to overturn an earlier ruling by Quebec Superior Court Justice Catherine Piché, which compelled the St. Raphael Palliative Care Home and Day Centre to offer assisted death.

Chilli’s death reminds us love is the answer

March 21, 2024

I never knew the lady’s real name. When I met her she said, “Just call me Chilli, that’s my street name.” Readers of this column will know her as “The woman who lives in a doorway downtown.” It has been 10 months since we first met. At that time, she gave me some money to go and buy clothes for her from a nearby shop. When I returned, we sat on the step together as she poured out her grief for her son who was taken from her at nine years old.

Invitation to reach for higher realms

March 21, 2024

The first I heard of Fr. Ron Rolheiser was when I was a bushy-tailed editor of the Western Catholic Reporter in Edmonton still in my 20s. An article he had written showed up in the mail one sunny day in 1982 from Belgium where he was studying, and he wanted to know if we would publish it. The subject was revirginization, a possibility that had never previously crossed my mind. Nevertheless, the brilliance of the article astonished me, and I eagerly published it as well as another article he sent.

An unlikely love story

March 21, 2024

I’ve read many — far too many — Holocaust accounts, and despite too much familiarity with the horrors and depravity, my emotions usually get the better of me. It’s not unlike from what I’ve heard from friends who have walked under the Auschwitz concentration camp’s entrance gates and its ominous “Arbeit macht frei” — “Work sets you free” — and are reminded of horrors past: you arrive knowing fully well what to expect, yet the tears still flow.

Finding the truth by seeing God’s beauty

March 21, 2024

As we journey through our life as Christians, seeking to grow in faith and wisdom, we discover we are hard-wired as human beings that bear God’s image and likeness to seek truth, beauty and goodness. These are properties of being, of God. He reveals this to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 when Moses asks God what His name is. God tells him, “I AM WHO I AM.”

Verbatim: Pope Francis’ message to the Dicastery of Evangelization

March 21, 2024

Pope Francis’ message to the plenary session of the Dicastery of Evangelization on March 15, 2024 in Rome.

Editorial: The Bill C-63 hallucination

March 21, 2024

First, it was the unlikely Chardonnay-and-ketamine like pairing of Margaret Atwood and Elon Musk that raised alarms about the federal government’s proposed Online Harms Act. Now, someone with years of practice adjudicating human rights law has launched a fusillade against Bill C-63 that should set the ears of all Canadians, including Liberal caucus members, buzzing.

Major Archbishop Shevchuk discusses pope's 'call for negotiation', Ukraine's faith

Jonathan Luxmoore · March 22, 2024

The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has insisted his countrymen will "never surrender" to Russia's invasion and that the pope's recent call for a negotiation of terms with Moscow was "deeply hurtful" for his nation.

Nothing lost giving everything to God

Fr. Scott Lewis · March 22, 2024

Passion (Palm) Sunday (Year B) March 24 (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2: 6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47) The prophet Isaiah has given us a perfect job description of one who walks with God and can legitimately claim to speak for the Lord. The description is easily distinguished from typical human behaviour and attitudes by what is noticeably missing: ego and self-seeking. This individual becomes an instrument in God’s hands and a conduit for God’s words and intentions.

Pro-life conversion spurred by 40 Days for Life prayer

March 22, 2024

American pro-life speaker Ramona Treviño, a former Planned Parenthood abortion referrals clinic manager, believes women “deserve better than abortion.” Treviño spoke to over 100 people at St. Alfred Parish Hall in St. Catharines, Ont., March 13.

Faith not superstition

March 22, 2024

Further to Andrew Bennett’s recent article on Fiducia supplicans, here is a quotation from Bishop Gemma of Isernia, Italy on June 29, 1992:

‘Dead people don’t cost money’: Calculating cost of MAiD

March 22, 2024

The grim calculus of tracking the cost of Medical Assistance in Dying shows that B.C. doctors receive $283.85 for every “MAiD Event preparation and Procedure” they perform.

Nigerian priest a ‘spark’ to P.E.I. faith life

March 23, 2024

During his first two weeks in Prince Edward Island, Fr. Benedict Olelewe, SDV, has only enjoyed fish from the grocery store. The occasion when he savours his first fresh catch of lobster, mussels or oysters from P.E.I.’s Atlantic waters will be a delightful and tasty bonus. But indulging in seafood is not why he voyaged from Nigeria to serve in the Diocese of Charlottetown’s Holy Family Pastoral Unit.