TORONTO - The art of decision-making often leads students to a crossroad, not knowing which way to turn. What university do I attend? What do I want to be? What is my vocation?

Editor’s note: The following address was presented by retired Canadian senator Douglas Roche, a noted author and veteran advocate for nuclear disarmament from Edmonton. It was given at the Lauriston Jesuit Centre for Social Justice in Edinburgh on Oct. 3. Roche, whose most recent book is The Human Right to Peace (Novalis, 2003), was also welcomed at the Scottish Parliament along with Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien and other church leaders and members of Parliament. The visit was facilitated by Pax Christi.

A time traveller from the Cold War would find it astonishing that nuclear weapons are still very much part of the global landscape. The opportunity that arose at the end of the Cold War in 1989 to get rid of nuclear weapons was squandered. Today, there are still 27,000 nuclear weapons held by eight states which together comprise almost half of humanity.

Catholics the world over are familiar with the New Testament, that portion of the Bible that speaks of a new covenant with God as represented through the life and death of Jesus. But the selection and acceptance of the writings that make up the New Testament formed a complex and highly controversial process that was still being debated within the church 400 years after the birth of Christ.

BEIJING - Some time after Easter, Pope Benedict XVI was to issue a letter to Chinese Catholics that many hope will call for reconciliation and unity between those who have registered with the government and those who have not registered.

“The opposite of ‘Catholic’ is not ‘Protestant’, but rather ‘sectarian,’ ” says Jesuit Father Mark Massa, co-director of the Curran Centre for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University in New York City.

In the growing debate over euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide, one significant argument has too often been missing in action. In church circles at least, we forget to show the very human side of those most affected by any expansion of euthanasia.

Pope Benedict XVI denounced the high-tech trend that encourages parents to seek the “perfect child” through genetic selection.

Children won’t be lifted out of poverty in Ontario unless politicians start committing to reduce poverty rates that have remained stubbornly high despite a booming economy, Campaign 2000 declared with the release of yet another Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario.

{mosimage}Editor’s note: With the growth of ethnic and religious diversity in Canada, there is a growing debate over religious education and whether it should be supported with tax dollars. In this essay, Peter Lauwers analyses the debate and offers a cogent argument for state funding of religious education.

 

TORONTO - Church unity hasn’t happened yet, but Catholics and Anglicans have a new list of concrete suggestions for ways to bring the two churches closer.