Changes to canonization are more than welcome
This Sunday in Rome there will be a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to give thanks for the “equivalent canonization” last April of two new Canadian saints: St. François de Laval and St. Marie de l’Incarnation. The process of “equivalent canonization” permits the Holy Father to declare a beatified person to be a saint, waiving any requirement for a miracle to be certified after the beatification, and to dispense with the canonization ceremony itself.
Defining just war
New Democrat MP Paul Dewar flushed with surprise when asked whether, as someone raised Catholic, he considers Canada’s involvement in the bombing of ISIL terrorists to qualify as a just war.
A just response
In cases of unprovoked violence the use of reasonable force may be justified to stop an aggressor.
All politics is local so get out and vote
They say all politics is local and that municipal politics is closer to our everyday lives than any level of government. It’s about water, sewage and garbage pickup. It’s about street-light repairs, safe pedestrian crosswalks and parks where our children can play.
- By Robert Brehl
A Pope visits Queen’s
I was not about to miss seeing the pope on our Queen’s University campus. Perhaps not “the” pope — but a pope nonetheless, and surely the first ever papal visit to Kingston.
Zero tolerance
In a widely reported statement Pope Francis recently told bishops to protect minors with “utmost care” and warned that anyone who failed would “be held accountable.”
We owe our children a better discussion
This month 673,000 students were registered to attend English and French Catholic schools in Ontario. Their registration is a choice made by parents who value and acknowledge the importance of Catholic education for their children.
Parents are addicted to micro-managing
Early September found our family sitting in front of a university, again.
A voice for life
Not so long ago, it would have been considered the kiss of death for Canada’s Catholic bishops to launch a national campaign against medicalized killing.
Daunting challenge
The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will examine a broad range of important issues but, even before the Oct. 5 opening session, one question dominates: Will Pope Francis entertain a reinterpretation of doctrine to permit full participation in the sacraments for civilly divorced and remarried Catholics who have not received a Church annulment? In short, will they be welcomed back to Communion?
Pope Francis could get the Synod he didn’t want
Pope Francis has asked that Sept. 28 be a day of prayer for next month’s meeting of bishops on the family. Given the crisis in family life, the Holy Father called this extraordinary Synod to address the pastoral care of the family in the context of evangelization. However, the preparation for the Synod has been entirely dominated by one topic: Will Catholics who are divorced and have entered a second civil marriage be permitted to receive Holy Communion? At the moment they should not receive Holy Communion, as any Catholic who is in a state of mortal sin is not to receive Holy Communion.