Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

Jean Ko Din is Youth Editor at The Catholic Register.

You can reach her at jean.kodin@catholicregister.org or 416-934-3410 ext. 403.

Sixty years ago, 13-year-old Clara Creglia’s homeroom teacher, Sr. Elaine, instructed the new Grade 9 class to pair up and choose their locker partners. Creglia didn’t really know anyone at Toronto’s Loretto College School on Brunswick Ave. so she decided to try her luck with the girl that sat behind her. 

The students at St. Mother Teresa Catholic Academy in Toronto didn’t grow up on a reserve or have Indigenous roots, but after a semester learning Grade 11 Indigenous Studies English, they knew they could still be allies to their native brothers and sisters. 

Growing up, Rachel Wong had this image of what a Catholic woman looked like. 

A Catholic woman has a quiet and demure strength. She is sensitive, soft-spoken and wears a lace veil to church. Maybe she’s a homemaker, maybe she has her own career, but the Catholic woman Wong had in her mind was also a one-dimensional stereotype. 

Whether it’s a pilgrimage or a family vacation or simply a day trip, there are plenty of interesting spots across Canada to visit this summer that are linked to the history and heritage of Catholicism. The list is long, but here we are offering a few suggestions across Canada.

All her life, Rachel had carried guilt about being attracted to women. She hadn’t told her family or her friends, so opening up to strangers in a group setting made little sense.

June 6, 2019

Close encounters

In between sold out events for thousands of people, Mike Mangione looks forward to quiet moments when it’s just him, his guitar, his harmonica and sometimes a tambourine in front of about 20 faces in the crowd. 

Genevieve Pinnington is on a mission to spread the good news of global citizenship. 

After six months working at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, the 22-year-old returned to Toronto with a passion to engage others in world issues — not to mention a personal sense of appreciation for the greener spaces of home.

St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica is more than just a historical monument. For the faithful people of the Archdiocese of Toronto, it is an expression of honour, worship and tradition.

Mary Allan ran her hand along the peach-coloured lockers and suddenly she was in Grade 9 again. 

Even a parishioner listening closely during Mass would not know the meticulous care that Jeffrey Moellman brings to every note he plays on the organ at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.