Arts News

Josef Svoboda is an Arctic ecologist and professor emeritus in biology at the University of Toronto. He migrated to Canada in 1968, fleeing from the communist regime of Czechoslovakia.

A biologist's epic tale from a Communist regime to the Canadian Arctic

By Geoffrey Woollard, A Catholic Register Special

Wine from Raisins, A Life Transformed through Communist Gulag to Canadian Arctic by Josef Svoboda (Novalis, softcover, 240 pages, $27.95)

As the 45-year-old mother of seven home-schooled children living on a working farm, and juggling her touring and recording, MacMaster has learned to plan for prayer and plan for music.

'It's the Lord, working through the music,' Catholic fiddler Natalie MacMaster says

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Whether or not St. Thomas Aquinas really said “he who sings prays twice,” it’s true.

Jesus is brought before Pilate as the crowd shouts its verdict in this scene from the 2010 production of the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany.

For the sake of Oberammergau's Passion: Every ten years, Bavarian town becomes Calvary

By Meggie Hoegler, The Catholic Register

There are probably thousands of Passion plays put on around the world during the Easter season, but you would be hard pressed to find a more unique version than the one held in a small town in Germany’s Bavarian Alps.

Students and faculty from Holy Trinity Catholic High School with their first-place award for the Stewards of Creation video: (from left) Kevin McCue, Ben Smith, vice-principal Ron Rapps, Nicole Branchaud, principal Stacey Krol, Ashley Payette, Jim Malyon and Nolan Laframboise.

Rural Ontario high school recognized for their stewardship of creation

By Meggie Hoegler, The Catholic Register

“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.”

Laura Ballan-Kohn (Andrea Irwin), Fr. Gabriel Mejia (Evan Walsh) and Megan Gutierrez (Gillian Reed) witness Cardinal Matias Iglesias (Thomas O’Neill, kneeling) confronting his past in Omission.

Playwright presents the Catholic Church, world in human terms

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

How much truth does it take to really set us free? A young journalist, a Latin American cardinal and the ghosts of his past set out to answer this difficult question about sin and redemption on the eve of a conclave that could well see the cardinal elected pope in the new play Omission.

Film producer Pete Shilaimon said he wants people who enjoy mainstream films to also go to faith-based films and vice versa. His latest film, Forever My Girl, is in theatres Jan. 19.

Producer Pete Shilaimon captures his faith in films

By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

If faith is meant for all people, then it is also meant for the box office.

Journey of the Three Magi to Bethlehem by Leonaert Bramer, 1640

Priest follows the trail of three wise men

By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

When the story of Jesus’ birth is told in the same breath as the story of Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman, it’s easy for the greatest story ever told to lose its weight as historical truth.

Fr. Paul Keller vested in purple applies ash on a young man's forehead during the Ash Wednesday scene in Lady Bird.

Sermon on the screen: Priest plays himself in 'Lady Bird'

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON – Part of a voice-over in the trailer for "Lady Bird" – playing over scenes from the movie and in between dialogue – comes from a homily delivered to Catholic high school students attending a school Mass in the beginning of the movie.

Stephen Yeun, from The Walking Dead TV series, is the voice of Boas the donkey in The Star. His best friend, Dave the Dove, is played by Keegan-Michael Key.

Nativity story takes a look at the wild side

By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

The story of Christmas has long been a classic.

Seeing the nativity story from the animals’ point of view … well, that’s another story altogether, though the director of animated film The Star has hopes for it becoming a classic, too.

It was a strange and surreal experience for Patty Rivera to sign her late daughter’s book during a book launch party Oct. 27. She signed it with Rani’s name, knowing in her heart that the book was her way of making her daughter’s dream come true a year after her death.

Poetry book a bittersweet dream come true

By Jean Ko Din, The Catholic Register

It was always Rani Rivera’s dream to become a published poet, much like her mother Patria. What she didn’t know was that her dream would come true after her own death.