A bill that would define how palliative care should be delivered in Ontario is a great first step, but Cardinal Thomas Collins and a parade of palliative care experts who came to testify on the Compassionate Care Act, Bill 3, were insistent they want more.

As Canada goes over 11,000 COVID deaths and 300,000 cases — with medical professionals calling for “circuit breaker” shut-downs and Canada’s largest archdiocese having to cancel public Masses in "lockdown" areas — the Church has to respond with unflinching concern for the common good, said Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops president Archbishop Richard Gagnon.

Cardinal Thomas Collins recognized the thousands of volunteers across the vast Archdiocese of Toronto who have ensured a safe re-opening of churches during the COVID-19 pandemic with a special Mass of gratitude Nov. 4.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for Toronto Catholics to “go deeper” into their spiritual lives, Cardinal Thomas Collins told thousands who gathered before television and computer screens for the most unusual Cardinal’s Dinner in over four decades.

Cardinal Thomas Collins said there is no mistaking what the last six months of dealing with COVID-19 has been: a plague on our world.

This column is a shout out to a good man. No one can accuse me of trying to curry favour with him. I do not need a job or need to borrow money.

“So good to see you.”

And with those words, Cardinal Thomas Collins launched into the first Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica June 17 where he had a live congregation since the COVID-19 pandemic closed churches in the Toronto archdiocese and nationwide in mid-March.

OTTAWA -- In a country where thousands of babies are aborted each year before they can draw their first breath and euthanasia towards the end of life is now a legally protected aspect of the public health care system, Toronto Archbishop Cardinal Thomas Collins blessed Canadians on the frontline of the pro-life movement during a virtual candlelight vigil on May 13.

While restrictions are expected to remain in place for the immediate future, preparations are under way for a time when churches will re-open, Cardinal Thomas Collins wrote in a pastoral letter.

Across Canada, COVID-cloistered Canadians plugged in throughout Holy Week in big numbers to view Mass at home on TV and over the Internet.

Amid the disruption and anxiety of the COVID-19 crisis, Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto has issued a pastoral letter for Holy Week in which he urges the faithful to reach out in “prayer and responsible action” rather than collapse into “selfishness and despair.”

In a letter to priests of the Archdiocese of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins said it is “essential” to proceed with Holy Week and Easter ceremonies even though every church in Canada’s largest diocese will be closed throughout the holiest days on the Church calendar. 

Church doors may be closed and the opportunity for a communal celebration of the Eucharist have ceased for the time being, but the Mass will go on, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

In a speech that touched on religious freedom, conscience rights, euthanasia and Christian persecution, Cardinal Thomas Collins evoked the life of St. John Henry Newman to urge people of faith to be courageous in the face of “an aggressively secular society.”

Toronto takes a major step toward claiming its first saint on Oct. 20 with a Mass to close the initial stage of investigation into the possibility of canonizing Sr. Carmelina Tarantino.