On my way to becoming a Catholic I kept hitting speed bumps. There were certain things the Church taught that I could not get my head around.

VANVOUVER - While she was executive director of the pro-life group Vancouver’s Life Community, Annabelle Chong heard many stories from faithful Catholics who had to be cautious what they said in the workplace when hot-button subjects like abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender rights came up for discussion.

Compelling new research out of Cardus and the Angus Reid Institute should encourage Canadian religious leaders to take a deeper look at why some people remain religiously faithful and why others do not, says Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett.

On June 3, 1886, the Feast of the Ascension, St. Charles Lwanga and companions were martyred. They were pages for King Mwanga, a pedophilic and violent ruler in Uganda who forced himself onto his young attendants.

The best thing to say about a recent report to the minister of national defence from an advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination in Canada’s military is that it’s not wholly bad.

There’s a moving van load of unpacking to be done with new data delivered by the Angus Reid Institute and Cardus think tank on the state of organized religion in Canada.

Are young people, particularly those aged 18-30, still interested in religion?

Writing last week in the Jesuit publication America, associate editor Jim McDermott posed a 30-word query that should become the reflection-starter of our time.

In many ways, we experienced an encore in 2021 of the difficulties of 2020, along with a batch of new adversities. However, January offers us a chance to recalibrate. We are invited and challenged to live each of this year’s 365 days as people of faith. 

Having seen many performances of Shakespeare’s play, I have heard many actors’ interpretations of Hamlet’s response to the seemingly-innocent question: “What do you read, my lord?” With dry irony, or with bitterness, weariness, humour or biting sarcasm, Hamlet replies: “Words, words, words.” Like his author, Hamlet had reason to be fed up with words, and reason to be entranced with them.  So have we all.

One Sunday last month, I stood in my home church in Barrie, Ont., that was overflowing with visitors. It was truly a great sight to see and reminded me of pre-COVID days when churches were often full like this.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 22 (Year B) Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17,18b; Psalm 34; Ephesians 4:32-5:1-2, 21-32; John 6:53, 60-69

Each day, billions of people on this planet make choices. Some of them are quite mundane — what to have for dinner or what to wear. For far too many, these are not choices — it is a matter of having something, anything, to eat or wear.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) June 27 (Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43)

Death was not part of God’s plan, and God takes no delight in it. We need to hear that repeatedly, for fearsome and negative images of God have taken their toll over the centuries. God is the God of the living and the giver of life itself.

Premier Christian Radio in the UK just sponsored a survey that investigated how the COVID crisis has affected religious beliefs and attitudes. There were three major findings — namely, that 67 per cent of those who characterize themselves as “religious” found their belief in God challenged, that almost a quarter said the pandemic made them more fearful of death, and that around a third of those surveyed said that their prayer life had been affected by the crisis.

I recently gave a virtual commencement speech at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College in Barry’s Bay, Ont. Incidentally, OLSW (as it shall henceforth be abbreviated) is one of only two Canadian Catholic colleges or universities on the prestigious Newman Guide of the Cardinal Newman Society.