St. John’s Archbishop Martin Currie presides at a prayer service June 18 to introduce Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.

We’re all in it together

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St. John’s, Nfld. - To understand Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment and to act on it we need everybody all together, Archbishop Martin Currie told a prayer service held to introduce Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home at St. Teresa’s Church June 18.

Citizens for Public Justice executive director Joe Gunn sees where faith communities have much to contribute to the environmental movement.

Francis takes fresh approach to dialogue

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OTTAWA - In Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, some informed readers see Pope Francis seeking a dialogue with the whole world while giving new insight into the relationship of human beings to creation.

Habib Alli

Pope’s respect for Islam in encyclical a Ramadan blessing

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Laudato Si’ arrived on the first day of Ramadan and it was the first papal document in history to cite a Muslim scholar and mystic as an authority — to the delight of Toronto Muslim leaders.

Here today and gone tomorrow? Not likely

Here today and gone tomorrow? Not likely

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Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once famously quipped, “A week is a long time in politics.” It is a truism that Pope Francis and the Vatican might well be discovering about the widespread reception of Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.

Canada and other wealthy nations are admonished in Laudato Si’ as Pope Francis stands shoulder to shoulder with the developing world.

Canada squarely in Laudato Si’ crosshairs

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The Pope’s encyclical on the environment is addressed to the entire world, but it has different messages for different parts of it.

The Pope calls for people to use spirituality to encourage more passionate concern for the planet.

Spiritual ways to a better environment

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Pope Francis is calling for an “ecological conversion” for all in his encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home. The Pope calls for people to use spirituality to encourage “a more passionate concern for the protection of our world” and lists a number of practical ways to integrate this teaching in our daily lives. Below we have looked at some of the Pope’s recommendations and included some suggestions about how to integrate his teachings into our daily lives.

Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine celebrates the 400th anniversary of the first Mass on the Island of Montreal on a birch bark canoe altar June 24. The Mass, held at St. John the Baptist Church, included a re-enactment of explorer Samuel de Champlain and two Franciscans, Frs. Denys Jamet and Joseph le Caron, who came ashore during one of his journeys to the New World

Montreal marks 400 years since Champlain’s first Mass

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MONTREAL - Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine celebrated Mass on a birch bark canoe altar June 24 to mark the feast of St. John the Baptist while at the same time commemorating the 400th anniversary of what is widely thought to be the first Mass ever celebrated on the Island of Montreal.

The athletes’ village for the Pan Am Games, left, will be home to Fr. Eduardo Soto for the best part of the summer. The Venezuelan Jesuit will be part of the Archdiocese of Toronto’s chaplaincy team for the Pan Am and Parapan Games to be held in the city during July and August.

Chaplaincy team ready for Pan Ams

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TORONTO - Growing up in Venezuela, Fr Eduardo Soto fell in love with the Pan Am Games when his home country hosted the quadrennial event in Caracas in 1983.

A member of the Missionaries of Charity helps distribute relief items to earthquake victims May 16 in the mountains overlooking Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Toronto donors faced tough decisions when it came to giving to disaster relief, local charities and fundraising initiatives.

Series of events combine to put ShareLife behind

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Natural disasters around the world combined with a larger fund-raising campaign in the archdiocese tapping into the generosity of Toronto Catholics are making for one of the most difficult years in ShareLife’s history.

St. Michael’s Cathedral in downtown Toronto has been closed due to safety concerns. Construction renovations at the cathedral are cited for the closure.

Cathedral closed over safety concerns

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TORONTO - First construction stripped St. Michael’s Cathedral of its spiritual atmosphere, now it is blocking parishioners from entering the pews and sacred space.

In this 2008 file photo, Missionaries of Charity Sister Nirmala Joshi meets Christian refugees who had been sheltered in Kandhamal, India. Sister Nirmala, 80, died June 23. She would have turned 81 in a month.

Sr. Nirmala Joshi, successor to Blessed Teresa, dies at 81

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CALCUTTA, India - Sr. Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Blessed Teresa of Calcutta as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity and led the order for 12 years until retiring in 2009, died early June 23 in Calcutta at age 80.

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