Features/Features

When Sr. Nancy Brown began serving as pastoral counsellor at Covenant House Vancouver in 1998, her eyes were opened to the sex-trafficking crisis happening right under the nose of everyday Canadians.

Trafficking numbers down, but challenge is in accessing true figures

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Human trafficking incidents reported by Canadian police declined from 546 in 2019 to 515 in 2020, according to Statistics Canada, but advocates for victims are under no illusion that the numbers are dwindling.

Artistic styles of Spanish Empire as real as it gets

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To anyone who ever thought St. Paul was talking philosophically or theologically when he said “The wages of sin is death,” 18th-century Ecuadorean sculptor Manuel Chili, known as Caspicara, has left a message in wood, glass, metal and paint. Four sculptures called The Fates of Man illustrate St. Paul’s warning in the most immediate, visceral and concrete sense possible.

The healing waters of Lac Ste. Anne

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Steve Simon knows that one of the best tricks in photography is learning how to record the invisible — things like faith, hope, healing, memory, time and wonder. The award-winning photographer, now based in New York, learned this trick early in his career at Lac Ste. Anne.

Annual Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage dates back to 1889

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The legacy of the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage stretches back a lot longer than the Church remembers. Lac Ste. Anne was a sacred pilgrimage site for centuries before French Oblate missionaries arrived at Fort des Prairies (later known as Edmonton) in 1843.

‘God opens the door’ to Pakistani Catholic refugee family

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Younis Gil is a small man who struggles with English. Years of stress, uncertainty and hard labour have left an imprint. But he squares his shoulders, straightens his back, meets your gaze and smiles. With his wife Saleema Bibi and surrounded by three of his adult children plus a son-in-law, he is a proud pater familias embracing a life that a few months ago was hard to imagine.

Pakistan blasphemy law ‘costing lives’

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Canada can do more to counter Pakistan’s blasphemy law — a law that made refugees of the Younis family and thousands of others, whose lives are on hold in Bangkok and other places around the world — the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief told the All-Party Parliamentary Interfaith Caucus in an online presentation earlier this month.

On the trail to help women escape abuse

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On May 1, mother of three Linda Murphy began a 900-kilometre hike along Ontario’s Bruce Trail to raise money for domestic violence survivors across Canada.

Full STEAM ahead for girls

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A predominantly female robotics team from Toronto’s St. Oscar Romero Catholic Secondary School is helping to expand the face of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).

Speaker to share tips on raising happy kids

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While many are emerging to a sense of normalcy after two years years of dark clouds and closures due to the pandemic, many parents have been left with ongoing concerns for their children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Students take ‘Chance’ on music contest

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Music composed by students at St. Brother André Catholic High School in Markham, Ont., is the official theme song for this year’s Catholic Education Week festivities across the province.