Fix Canada's refugee system
{mosimage}New federal regulations that require travellers from Mexico and the Czech Republic to obtain visas to enter Canada will not fix the nation’s troubled refugee system. Yet this recently announced initiative of the Conservative government has the overwhelming support of voters, recording 69-per-cent approval in an Angus Reid poll.
Some might interpret that as a general rebuke of Canada’s open-door policy of providing safe haven for those forced to flee their homes due to persecution, war and violence, often ethnic or tribal in nature. But we suspect the opposite is the case.
Some might interpret that as a general rebuke of Canada’s open-door policy of providing safe haven for those forced to flee their homes due to persecution, war and violence, often ethnic or tribal in nature. But we suspect the opposite is the case.
Give men a fair hearing
{mosimage}To mark this past Fathers’ Day, The National Post carried an interesting feature about negative images of men in general, and fathers in particular, in consumer advertising.
Most of the complaints centred on portrayals of clumsiness and laziness with household tasks. Some men have found the portrayals offensive enough to file complaints with the Advertising Standards Council, and a few have been upheld.
Most of the complaints centred on portrayals of clumsiness and laziness with household tasks. Some men have found the portrayals offensive enough to file complaints with the Advertising Standards Council, and a few have been upheld.
Dead Sea Scrolls open our eyes to first-century Judaism
{mosimage}The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was the 20th century’s biggest archeological story.
It had the romance of the desert: Bedouin lads, poking into dry caves near the ancient Dead Sea settlement of Qumran in early 1947, find traces of a mysterious Jewish sect from the time of Jesus.
Coming when it did, on the eve of the post-war surge of new Bible translations, the unearthing of the scrolls caused astonishment by bringing to light the oldest texts of the Old Testament Scriptures in existence.
Papal social encyclicals help to renew values
{mosimage}From the Industrial Revolution to the Great Depression to the onset of the Digital Revolution, papal social encyclicals have erected guideposts to steer Catholics through the mazes of hardship that confront society.
Pope Benedict XVI has more than maintained that tradition with Charity in Truth, a sweeping encyclical that reinforces traditional church teachings while issuing bold challenges to world leaders to do a better job and to individuals to lead more charitable lives. (For full text: www.vatican.va/latest/latest_en.htm)
Pope Benedict XVI has more than maintained that tradition with Charity in Truth, a sweeping encyclical that reinforces traditional church teachings while issuing bold challenges to world leaders to do a better job and to individuals to lead more charitable lives. (For full text: www.vatican.va/latest/latest_en.htm)
Lessons learned along the career path
The end of the academic year is particularly significant in our family this time around. Our eldest child just graduated from high school and our youngest completed elementary school.
My daughter is fortunate to have a career plan mapped out. It’s too early to guess my son’s future path.
My daughter is fortunate to have a career plan mapped out. It’s too early to guess my son’s future path.
- By Lisa Petsche
It won't go away
{mosimage}The report is in but the final chapter may not yet be written regarding allegations that have swirled around Development and Peace since March.
Amid charges that D&P was aligned with five Mexican groups that support abortion, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has concluded an investigation and exonerated D&P, according to CCCB president Archbishop James Weisgerber.
Amid charges that D&P was aligned with five Mexican groups that support abortion, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has concluded an investigation and exonerated D&P, according to CCCB president Archbishop James Weisgerber.
Thank you, Father
{mosimage}Father’s Day. Bring out the greeting cards, new ties and socks. My dad is an inspiring guy, a role model, someone who’s shown me the kind of person I’d like to be in life. So dad, never forget you’re #1 (along with mom) in my books.
But this Father’s Day, I’d like to thank some other “fathers” out there. They probably won’t be taken out for brunch this weekend and are unlikely to receive any great classroom art from the kids at school, but I’d like to say thanks just the same.
But this Father’s Day, I’d like to thank some other “fathers” out there. They probably won’t be taken out for brunch this weekend and are unlikely to receive any great classroom art from the kids at school, but I’d like to say thanks just the same.
Pray for the artistic commitment to truth
Catholics who pray the Liturgy of the Hours know that the intercessions frequently guide us to petition God for the arts.
Not that artists nowadays care whether we pray for them or not. (They are more likely to be grateful that Christians no longer have the power to censor or suppress them.) It has been a long time, after all, since churches commissioned artworks that were important in the history of art, and since artists had anything better than contempt for Christianity, its teachings and institutions.
Not that artists nowadays care whether we pray for them or not. (They are more likely to be grateful that Christians no longer have the power to censor or suppress them.) It has been a long time, after all, since churches commissioned artworks that were important in the history of art, and since artists had anything better than contempt for Christianity, its teachings and institutions.
Coming to grips with Irish abuse scandal
{mosimage}When I was at a meeting for the International Council of Universities in Limerick, Ireland, last April, it was in the air. Menacingly on the horizon.
Over a year ago when my own university honoured Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin, for his record of service in the cause of global human rights, the topic came up, and the dread was palpable.
And now, at last, it has happened, and the church in Ireland is convulsed. Again.
Over a year ago when my own university honoured Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin, for his record of service in the cause of global human rights, the topic came up, and the dread was palpable.
And now, at last, it has happened, and the church in Ireland is convulsed. Again.
Give the gift of life
{mosimage}There are currently 1,662 people in Ontario on waiting lists for organ transplants. At year’s end, in rough numbers, just 450 will have received a new organ, 1,150 will still be suffering and 62 will have died waiting for a donor.
The numbers are startling but, sadly, are nothing new. There has always been a huge gap between demand and supply when it comes to human organs.
The numbers are startling but, sadly, are nothing new. There has always been a huge gap between demand and supply when it comes to human organs.
Deacon gives nun the gift of life
TORONTO - You never know what you’ll spot in the parish bulletin. One Sunday last summer Deacon Michael Hayes read a plea from a woman seeking a liver donor to save her critically ill sister. He put down the bulletin, booted up his computer and sent an e-mail to his pastor.