As the new president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Calgary Bishop William McGrattan devoted his October to the Synod on Synodality in Rome, while at the same time his diocese in Canada launched a new five-year pastoral renewal process. 

Safe-injection site slated for former Catholic house

By

Benedict Labre House, a Montreal non-profit that was once a Catholic “house of hospitality,” is at the centre of controversy over plans to operate a novel form of supervised injection site (SIS) at its new centre meters from a day-care and elementary school.

Broken promises torpedo Bill C-314, says Fast

By

Conservative MP Ed Fast is “profoundly disappointed in the Liberal MPs who had promised” they would support Bill C-314, but ultimately chose not to when voting time arrived on Oct. 18. 

Military’s ‘inclusive’ directive excludes God

By

A top-level directive ordering military chaplains to be gender-sensitive and include atheists in “spiritual reflections” on Remembrance Day is sparking unexpected emotional backlash, says Bishop Scott McCaig of the Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Cemeteries can be hubs of learning, culture

By

Peter Nobes stood in a Nova Scotia cemetery filled with a void as he realized that his search for his great-great-grandfather’s grave was fruitless. There were no markings, no records; the grave had been lost to time.

Sask. school boards in tune with pronoun policy

By

The Saskatchewan government has tabled its Parents’ Bill of Rights Act — complete with the notwithstanding clause — to prevent children under the age of 16 from changing their names or pronouns without parental consent.

Bill C-314 defeated, MAiD will be offered for mental illness next year

By

Conservative MP Ed Fast’s Bill C-314, which would have stopped the upcoming expansion of the Canadian euthanasia regime, was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons on Oct. 18 by a 167-150 vote. 

Sister nuns retire together

By

The director of Valley Native Ministry in Saskatchewan’s Treaty 4 territory for the last 40 years, Sr. Bernadette Feist and her older sister, Sr. Theresa, both Ursuline nuns, are retiring. 

Italians at Holy Rosary’s heart for 100 years

By

Josephine “Jo” Dellapenta’s father Geremino hailed from Campobasso, the capital city of the Italian region of Molise. Her mother, Alfonsina Cordileone, lived her first 11 years in a town not far away.