Book News

ROME - The Catholic Church, under scrutiny for its response to clergy sex abuse scandals, is backing the publication of an Italian nun’s shocking account of her rape as a teenager and years of subsequent abuse by her parish priest in Milan.

The little things make The Perfect Gift

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In 22 years, one story stands out among thousands of Chalice Canada’s success stories.

It’s a story about two friends worlds apart and two doves.

Kids’ questions to Pope become book

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VATICAN CITY - Children may say the darnedest things, but when it comes to questions about faith they can make even the most learned parents and priests pause.

Pier Giorgio di Cicco and the story of a life

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Fr. Pier Giorgio Di Cicco immediately seizes the reader’s attention with his strong personal voice, the connecting feature of his new poetry collection Mystic Playground.

Church's credibility found in showing mercy, Pope says in new book

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VATICAN CITY - Being ministers of God's mercy, church members overcome "prejudice and rigidity," taking risks like Jesus did in order to heal and to save, Pope Francis said.

Out of the Cold: A history of caring

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Editor’s note: Launched almost 30 years ago as a project at Toronto’s St. Michael’s College School, the Out of the Cold program is a remarkable story of Christian outreach that last winter provided food and shelter to more than 12,000 homeless men and women. That success is celebrated in a just-released book by Catholic Register associate editor Michael Swan. In this excerpt from Out of the Cold: A history of caring, Swan recounts how the program found a home in one downtown Toronto church.

Jesuit story goes hand-in-hand with building of Canada

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Teachers of a Nation: Jesuits in English Canada, Jesuit History Series, vol. 1, by Joseph B. Gavin S.J. (Novalis, 288 pages, hardcover, $34.95).
Builders of a Nation: Jesuits in English Canada, Jesuit History Series, vol. 2, Jacques Monet S.J. editor (Novalis, 288 pages, hardcover, $34.95).

Talk of Canada’s Jesuits and their history usually conjures images of St. Jean de Brebeuf and his seven companions martyred in the 17th century at the hands of the Iroquois. Those dramatic events, famously recounted in the Jesuit Relations, would inspire and encourage future generations of the Society of Jesus to missionary work and to the care and feeding of the cult of their martyr-confrères.

Where the euthanasia slippery slope lies

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Do You Call This A Life? Blurred Boundaries in the Netherlands Right-to-Die-Laws, by Gerbert van Loenen (Ross Lattner, 196 pages, softcover, $20).

Canadian judges and Members of Parliament should read this book.

Author tackles atheism with humour

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Laughter might truly be the best medicine if it can encourage friendly conversation between Christians and atheists. That was Andy Bannister’s goal when he wrote The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist.

Farrow’s thoughts won’t make for a better country

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Desiring a Better Country: Forays in Political Theology by Douglas Farrow (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 192 pages, softcover, $29.95)

As Douglas Farrow’s Desiring a Better Country: Forays in Political Theology arrived on my desk, I was in a conversation about whether we still live in a nation state or a corporate state. If in a corporate state, what does this say about democracy and the role left to us, the citizens of international free trade agreements? Are we just spectators to the drama being played out between Greece and the European Union?

Tomics tickle the Catholic funny bone

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If God truly has a sense of humour, He would probably enjoy reading the Tomics Collection book by Tom Gould.

Tomics are weekly “religious funnies” published by The Catholic Fellows, a lay ministry that fosters men’s spiritual fellowship. Every Friday, their website features a new comic strip inspired by Scripture readings, lives of the saints or Catholic teaching.