For much of the past 50 years the received wisdom has been that religious observance and belief is relentlessly declining in Canada. The secularization theory is that as a society progresses by becoming more educated and affluent, the ties to traditional religious belief inevitably decline. 

With the ending of another year, we celebrate Jesus’ birth, the beginning of a life that leads to life for us all. As we ring in 2023, we need the new life of Christ to combat the culture of death.

In the early 1970s there was a movie called Soylent Green. It starred Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. It was the first film I saw that was a dystopian vision of the future. It took place in a New York City in which the population has exploded to the point of anarchy. In response, the state came up with a voluntary suicide program to lessen the crowding.

“I cannot believe I ever complained about being tired in the company of friends with young kids. Please forgive me!!” So tweeted new mother and journalist Bari Weiss, complete with double exclamation marks.

Caring reality

Gerard Walsh of Saugeen Shores, Ont., states in a Nov. 27 letter to the editor of The Catholic Register there is a need to adjust for reality regarding falling church attendance. He claims there has been no adjustment at the parish level. 

When even the Toronto Star emits an editorial ululation against medically administered homicide, we know we’re at the event horizon of a national moral black hole. Forget slippery slopes. We’re in the gravitational pull of somewhere the light no longer shines.

It has been more than four months since the end of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada to meet with Indigenous people and apologize for the Catholic Church’s involvement and acts of terror in the Indian residential school system. It’s long enough for the next steps in the journey of reconciliation to have been at least discussed. Yet, there has been next to nothing.

Why are our young people leaving the Catholic Church en masse? Many “panic studies” and “exit polls” have been done to answer the question of this gargantuan exodus. 

About mid-way through his speech at what conceivably might be his last Cardinal’s dinner, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins paused and seemed to lean into the podium just after articulating the word homeless.

Remembrance Day is a powerful time for many, one where we are called on to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. As a long-time volunteer at Remembrance events, one of the minor, and comical, issues I have dealt with is the disappearing poppy.