A Northern encounter with living treasures

Pope Francis often speaks about how the elderly are a treasure and has dedicated much of his pontificate to promoting a culture of encounter between generations.Inspired by this emphasis, Bishop Hector Vila recently invited me to the Diocese of Whitehorse to deliver several workshops and presentations geared toward exploring the value of life at all stages.

Doc quenches thirst for Jesus

When I first heard rumblings about a documentary titled Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist I had mixed feelings. While other recent programming such as this year’s Mother Cabrini film and the ongoing series The Chosen had drawn me in along with sizeable audiences sharing a hunger for Catholic representation in media, I found a sense of skepticism about a documentary tackling something as important to the faith as the Eucharist. 

Being Catholic is knowing the Presence burning our hearts

Structurally, within our very life, the human person is one who thirsts and expects something beyond ourselves. Consequently, faith is a response to these authentic needs already ineradicably embedded in us.

Literature for travelling reconciliation’s long road

Reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and entities of the Catholic Church will be a long road to travel. Dr. Natasha Duquette has taken some steps along this road by recently offering an academic course called Indigenous Writers of North America.

Abuse ruptures faith in Church

Most Catholics experience the crisis of sexual abuse by clergy in relation to headlines, as stories from around the globe or from the local parish where a trusted priest has been removed. Yet the pain of abuse within the Church bleeds somewhere else, in Someone else’s wounds, which are the only place where hope for healing may be found for any of us.

Podcast helps pro-lifers learn to listen

Abortion for any reason at any time has become radically normalized. One need look no further than abortion groups’ distribution of abortifacients at pop star Olivia Rodrigo’s concerts to see how much it pervades our culture. As a father of three daughters within the average ages of Rodrigo’s fans, my heart breaks for all women who have been sold the false promises of abortion. Thankfully, the distribution of these drugs has since stopped after widespread media backlash. Nevertheless, scenarios like this show that the lies of abortion are constantly bombarding vulnerable women and girls.

The healing power of genuine apology

An apology has great power to heal a wrong suffered. 

I witnessed an apology by a Catholic deacon (having no involvement with the case) offered to a Baptist woman who alleged abuse by a pastor in her denomination. She broke down in tears saying how meaningful it was to see a man wearing clerical garb providing an expression of compassion and regret as to how a fellow cleric had acted towards her.

Columnist admits he ‘MAiD’ an error

Pundits generally, and perhaps columnists in particular, do not often admit to making mistakes. So, it is a special kind of pundit who can step away from previously professed opinions and admit to getting things wrong.

Hope and resilience rise as Notre Dame reopens

Comment from the editorial board of the Our Sunday Visitor website.

The April 15, 2019, tragedy transcended borders, uniting the world in a shared sense of loss. For the Catholic Church, Notre Dame is, first and foremost, a place of worship. However, the cathedral also stands as a monument to the Church’s indelible and unrivaled contribution to art, architecture and culture. As we mark this somber anniversary, it is also a moment to celebrate the Church’s role in nurturing and preserving the cultural and artistic heritage of the West.

Confessions of a Catholic childhood

PROVERBS 28:13 ~“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses...”        

Confessionals: Our family called them “confession boxes.”

As a boy in the mid-1960s growing up along the Gaspé coast, I was intrigued by our Catholic church’s confession box. There were three entrances: the centre compartment for the priest to enter through an actual door, and two side compartments (one on each side of the priest’s compartment) for the penitents, but no actual doors for them. There were, however, ornate embroidered curtains covering both entrances, which deterred curious but innocuous parishioners (I mean, was the person confessing good fodder that could be passed along to a neighbour or two, or was it a lesser, venial-type, sin?). The heavy curtains also dulled sound and the penitents knew to speak in a hush audible only to the priest, and he reciprocated. The result in the pews: indistinguishable voices in English and French. 

The bearable lightness of whispering to Christ

St. Philip Neri once had a penitent confess to indulging in gossip. He advised the contrite soul to bring him a chicken, and to pluck its feathers as he walked the streets of Rome. When the man showed up with the chicken, his penance fulfilled, the great saint told him, “Now, brother, gather up all the feathers you’ve strewn about the city.”