Feature

Destination Latin America: Promoting religious tourism

December 10, 2011

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Santa Maria la Menor, the oldest cathedral in the Americas, sits just off a busy plaza in this Caribbean city’s colonial district. However, it’s the nearby bronze Christopher Columbus statue, Hard Rock Cafe and cigar shops that draw the lines of tourists in the plaza. “We came to see the colonial area. The churches are a nice part of that. But they’re not the reason we came,” said Maria Torres, who perused the shops that ring the plaza after snapping a photo of the statue. A life-long Catholic, Torres, who was visiting from Spain, asked, “The oldest in the Americas? I had no idea.”

Vatican II treasure hunt: Committee seeks bishops' notes, diaries

December 4, 2011

VATICAN CITY - With a view toward the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, a pontifical committee has launched a worldwide treasure hunt. Many of the more than 2,800 cardinals and bishops who participated in all or part of the 1962-65 council kept diaries, or at least notes; some wrote articles for their diocesan newspapers and most -- in the days before emails and relatively cheap trans-Atlantic phone calls -- wrote letters home. The Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences is asking church archivists, and even the family members of deceased council fathers, to look through their papers to find reflections that can add a personal touch to the historical research already conducted on the official acts of the council.

Providence Healthcare takes walk down Memory Lane

December 3, 2011

TORONTO - It's a hallway and a museum and an innovative therapy all at the same time. Providence Healthcare unveiled its Memory Lane to three dozen Sisters of St. Joseph, benefactors and friends Nov. 30. The hallway is full of memorabilia from the history of the Toronto hospital and the Sisters who built it up from nothing in 1851 to one of Canada's leading rehabilitation hospitals. Providence Healthcare patients battling memory loss are often encouraged to spend time with the Memory Lane's interactive displays to discover what memories old typewriters, nuns' habits, furniture, etc. will stir up.

Birthright offers a non-judgmental solution

December 2, 2011

TORONTO - Birthright International has been for more than four decades a place that provides a loving alternative to abortion, said co-president Mary Berney. “We’re here to help women and to basically show them how they can have their baby,” Berney told The Catholic Register. Founded in Toronto in 1968 by Louise Summerhill, a mother of seven, Birthright International now has about 350 offices in Canada, the United States and Africa.

Marriage is better, in so many ways

December 2, 2011

WASHINGTON - While studies have long shown the negative effects on children of divorce compared to those from two-parent households, a new study has determined that children born to cohabiting couples fare even worse than children from divorced families. Despite a drop in the divorce rate, “family instability continues to increase for the nation’s children overall, mainly because more than 40 per cent of American children will now spend time in a cohabiting household,” according to the study, “Why Marriage Matters,” issued recently by the Centre for American Families at the Institute for American Values and the National Marriage Project, based at the University of Virginia.

Courtship, Catholic style

December 2, 2011

Solid, lasting and happy marriages aren’t as rare as the entertainment industry would seem to suggest — and are worth talking about. And a group of mothers who had gathered for a Valentine’s Day event with their kids realized that. “We were sitting around talking, then we started reminiscing about our romances and I was just so moved by different peoples’ stories and how God had helped them along,” said Kathy Cassanto, a mother from Braeside, Ont., who was so moved by her friends’ courtship stories she suggested they gather more stories and compile them into a book.

This week's movie reviews - My Week with Marilyn, The Descendants

December 2, 2011

This weekend we've got reviews of two oscar contenders. Alexander Payne's The Descendants and Michelle Williams' homage to Marily Monroe, My Week with Marilyn.

Subway busker spreads God’s love through song [w/ video]

December 1, 2011

TORONTO - During the end-of-day rush hour at Sheppard subway station, TTC busker Benjamin “Lex” Tan strums his guitar, preparing to start his evening’s repertoire of pop music mixed in with rock, Christian contemporary and Christmas classics. Although the pocket change is welcome (the most Tan’s made in a two- or three-hour session was $60), it’s the opportunity to share his talents and God’s love through the universal language of music that matters most, he said. In fact, his most memorable “tip” from a TTC rider was a freshly baked pumpkin pie on his first day, Thanksgiving Monday.

Poverty in the midst of plenty: Hunger persists in the United States

November 27, 2011

WASHINGTON (CNS) - As U.S. nutritionists cringe over the prospect of an overweight nation indulging in a two-month binge of "season's eatings" -- from Halloween candy to Thanksgiving dinners to Christmas feasts to New Year's parties -- there are millions of Americans who aren't sure they're going to get enough to eat this day or the next. The problem is made worse by lack of access to nutritious food, as residents of America's poorest cities and neighborhoods have little choice but to make do with fast food or convenience stores that don't stock fresh produce.

Our Lady of Sorrows lunchtime series highlights organ’s beauty

November 26, 2011

TORONTO - Mozart called the organ the “king of instruments” for good reason, said Gordon Mansell, music director at Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Toronto. Beginning Dec. 7, Mansell intends on showcasing the instrument’s beauty through a free lunchtime concert series running every Wednesday at the west-end parish. “What happens in most parishes is that the organ is not used to its fullest potential so the people do not really have a good perspective on the instrument,” said Mansell. “So when they hear organ music played professionally… their every sense is engaged. It is quite an experience unlike any other.”