Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
Michael is Associate Editor of The Catholic Register.
He is an award-winning writer and photographer and holds a Master of Arts degree from New York University.
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Refugee sponsors brace for budget crunch
The churches that sponsor refugees may be nervous about their budgets over the next three years, but they will probably get through the coming flood of refugee arrivals, according to the organization that represents sponsorship agreement holders across the country.
It may be time to consider closing Out of the Cold, said the man responsible for managing the 30-year-old church-based shelter program.
In the wake of Ford nation storming the citadel of Queen’s Park, Catholic agencies and groups are already adjusting to the new reality.
Assisted reproduction, surrogacy laws challenged
A private member’s bill that would decriminalize the purchase of sperm, eggs and rent-a-womb surrogacy would open the door to exploitation of poor women and legalize a form of child trafficking, according to a member of the 1990s Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies.
With an $11.6-million donation, Toronto’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre will create one of the largest, most advanced and most comprehensive palliative care units in Canada.
As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was wrapping up its work in 2015, commission chair Justice Murray Sinclair repeated over and over, “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out.”
Though it all hinges on an invitation from Canada’s bishops, the superior general of the world’s 17,000 Jesuits — including Pope Francis — is certain the Pope will issue an apology on Canadian soil for Catholic involvement in Canada’s residential school system.
Spiralling costs and mountains of red tape may force some Catholic refugee sponsorship agencies out of business and cause others to cut back on the number of refugees they’re prepared to welcome, according to the Catholic Refugee Sponsorship Council representing 20 agencies across Canada.
For over 360 special needs students from 24 Catholic high schools across Toronto, a day spent running around an old hangar at the former Downsview air force base is more than special.
Socks, toothpaste, tampons, tissues and a handwritten note from a teenager aren’t likely to rewrite a life story that includes sleeping in shelters, seeking comfort in opioids and waking up in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital.