Catholic Register Staff
No stacked deck
Just before Christmas, in one of those quiet moves governments make when everyone's attention is somewhere else, Health Minister Tony Clement announced the membership of the new board to run the Assisted Human Reproduction Canada agency. It has been a long time coming.
Cardinal Ambrozic
The announcement of who would be the next archbishop of Toronto has been much anticipated, not least by Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic himself. At almost 77, he gets a well-deserved rest after labouring 30 years as bishop in that Lord's vineyard we call the archdiocese of Toronto.
The same-sex marriage debate is far from dead
Sometimes politicians have a rather exalted sense of their own authority. Witness the comments in the aftermath of the vote in the House of Commons Dec. 7 over same-sex marriage.
For all humanity
At this year's Midnight Mass we read Luke's famous nativity account in which the shepherds in the field first hear the good news of the birth of Jesus Christ from an angel: "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people." Christians recognize that it was indeed good news, but sometimes it is easy to forget it was for "all the people."
The real nation
The air in Canada these days has the acrid odour of Rome burning while Nero fiddles. All the debate over whether Quebecois (presumably francophone Quebecers) constitute a "nation" provides a convenient distraction from the real challenges facing the real nation.
Ripples of hate
Making room
A recent poll suggests that Canadians still embrace multiculturalism and religious diversity. At the same time, the survey shows that at some point newcomers must find ways to accommodate themselves to this country's deepest principles.
Collateral damage
U.S. President George Bush made a startling admission last week. He agreed with a journalist that the war in Iraq is bearing an alarming resemblance to Vietnam. Now if only his administration would learn how not to repeat history’s mistakes.
Facing the crisis
It is very easy to forget that Christianity has something to teach us about our responsibility toward the environment. After all, ecotheology was not invented by Jesus of Nazareth, nor did humanity in first-century AD have the potential to destroy the planet.
It's not settled
The federal government came under attack earlier this month because of leaked reports that it was preparing a Defence of Religions Act to deal with the disappointing fallout from Ottawa’s change to the legal definition of marriage. Now that it is out of the bottle, the same-sex marriage genie grows larger and uglier with each passing day.