Pietro Parolin

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 17 (Year B) Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

“It was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.” These words should leave us a bit — maybe even a lot — uneasy and puzzled.

Even in the world of what the late, great Allan Fotheringham called the “shy egomania” of journalism, moments of humility tilt unexpectedly upward their beautiful faces and make you see anew.

If Catholics really are going to raise $30 million to fund Indigenous-led reconciliation projects across the country, they’re going to have to run a very different campaign than the $25-million “best efforts” campaign that raised just $3.7 million between 2008 and 2014, say Catholic philanthropists and fundraisers.

The message across the country for parishioners, volunteers and staff at Catholic churches is clear: please get vaccinated.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will not be going to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, as he had hoped.

Incomplete apology

We can be grateful that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has finally issued an apology for the Church’s role in residential schools.

Canadians have a new Parliament, but it is tough to distinguish it from the old one.

OTTAWA -- A surge in assisted death requests in Nova Scotia has seen the province put referrals on hold until the backlog can be cleared.

The Catholic bishops of Canada have made a “financial pledge” with a “target of $30 million” over five years “as a tangible expression of their commitment to walk with the Indigenous Peoples of this land.” Local parishes will be “encouraged” to take up special collections “to support healing and reconciliation initiatives for residential school survivors, their families and their communities.”

Alberta residents will have their say later this month on the legitimacy of Canada’s system of equalization payments to poorer provinces. The United Conservative Party government of Jason Kenney has ordered a referendum, as part of municipal elections across the province, on whether the constitutional provision for tax sharing with poorer provinces should be abolished.