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Browse › 2024 › April
Justin McLellan · April 2, 2024
Just as Jesus removed the stone that sealed his tomb on the morning of the Resurrection, on Easter Christ alone "has the power to roll away the stones that block the path to life" and which trap humanity in war and injustice, Pope Francis said.
Cindy Wooden · April 2, 2024
Easter is a promise that no matter how dark the world may seem and no matter how heavy the burdens one carries, victory belongs to the Risen Christ and all who believe in him, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis voted for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, in the 2005 conclave that followed the death of St. John Paul II.
David Agren · April 2, 2024
Catholics turned out in large numbers to celebrate Holy Week in Nicaragua. But the ruling Sandinista regime prohibited public exhibitions of faith -- such as processions and reenactments of the passion of Christ -- as it continued exercising control over religious activities in what’s becoming an increasingly totalitarian country.
Register Exclusive
Sheila Nonato · April 3, 2024
Cancer survivor and Canadian podcaster Tammy Peterson has chosen the confirmation name of “Mary” and says she feels like a new woman in Christ.
Quinton Amundson · April 3, 2024
The Benedict XVI Institute of Newman Theological College and the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton took the first step towards building a new “culture of vocation” in Canada on Feb. 2 by hosting a vocations rally at St. Joseph’s Basilica, which drew 300 people.
Alberta’s pro-life community is denouncing a Calgary judge’s ruling to permit a 27-year-old woman with autism to receive euthanasia against the wishes of her father, who is opposing her in court.
From the Web Archive
April 3, 2024
The celebration of Easter is the time when we as Christians renew our baptismal promises. It is through the life-giving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are united with Him. Easter takes us beyond the Cross of sorrow and disappointment to the joy and hope that comes from knowing the Risen Lord. This experience of Christ transformed the disciples.
Junno Arocho Esteves · April 4, 2024
Pope Francis expressed his condolences to the people of Taiwan after a powerful earthquake struck the island nation's eastern shore.
Editorial
Catholic Register Editorial · April 4, 2024
In an opinion column published during Easter weekend, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan offered a message not just for the ages but for our specific moment of darkness.
Gina Christian · April 4, 2024
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York has announced he will travel to Israel and Palestine amid a war now in its seventh month.
April 4, 2024
The Ripples of Kindness Community Meal program might just be downtown Toronto’s best-kept charitable secret, with a combination of hot meals and hospitality offered each weekend to those who need it most. Ripples of Kindness (RoK) is an inter-faith meal program begun to combat social struggles such as homelessness, isolation and poverty. It began with two men seeing the obvious need during a walk in the heart of the city.
An excerpt from Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi Message on Easter Sunday, 2024.
“Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it,” wrote Norman Maclean in his classic novella, “A River Runs Through It.” The river “runs over the rocks of the basement of time…. Under the rocks are the words, and the words are theirs.” This leads to Maclean’s stark confession, “I am haunted by waters.”
St. Philip Neri once had a penitent confess to indulging in gossip. He advised the contrite soul to bring him a chicken, and to pluck its feathers as he walked the streets of Rome. When the man showed up with the chicken, his penance fulfilled, the great saint told him, “Now, brother, gather up all the feathers you’ve strewn about the city.”
PROVERBS 28:13 ~“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses...” Confessionals: Our family called them “confession boxes.” As a boy in the mid-1960s growing up along the Gaspé coast, I was intrigued by our Catholic church’s confession box. There were three entrances: the centre compartment for the priest to enter through an actual door, and two side compartments (one on each side of the priest’s compartment) for the penitents, but no actual doors for them. There were, however, ornate embroidered curtains covering both entrances, which deterred curious but innocuous parishioners (I mean, was the person confessing good fodder that could be passed along to a neighbour or two, or was it a lesser, venial-type, sin?). The heavy curtains also dulled sound and the penitents knew to speak in a hush audible only to the priest, and he reciprocated. The result in the pews: indistinguishable voices in English and French.
Quinton Amundson’s recent cover story “Cash no longer king” made for essential reading. The driver seems a mix of technophilia, fear and alienation turbo-charged during the pandemic.
April 5, 2024
On one cold evening, I made my usual visit to the hospital chapel to reflect on the day’s events in my ministry. It was a challenging day full of visits with questions about faith, life, and death. I was called to support a couple of bereaved families.
Second Sunday of Easter (Year B) , April 7 (Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31) “There was not a needy person among them” — this was the source of their unity and their strength. They were of one heart and soul.
April marks six months since the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth was forced to close the historic St. Theresa’s Church on North Street because of high levels of mould in the building. And since then, according to archdiocesan spokesperson Aurea Sadi, more issues have emerged.