Happy Birthday, dear Pope

As a man grows older: papal milestones prompt celebration, speculation

The Pope first used a wheeled platform, which the Vatican said was intended to reduce the physical toll on the Pope, Oct. 16. Pope Benedict will turn 85 April 16.

Pope John Paul II considered the question of resigning because of age. One of the people he discussed it with is now the Pope. Will this Pope resign or die in office?

Pope Benedict XVI's 85th birthday, April 16, and the seventh anniversary of his election, April 19, are obviously occasions for wishing the Pope well and reflecting on the events of his reign thus far. Inevitably, however, these milestones also prompt speculation about what Vatican officials and observers refer to diplomatically as "papal transition." 

Pope Benedict, after all, is already the sixth-oldest Pope since the 1400s, when records became available. It has been almost two years since he told a German interviewer, "My forces are diminishing" and that, when it comes to public appearances, "I wonder whether I can make it even from a purely physical point of view."

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Ontario government official blasts bishops over same-sex attraction teaching

Debate over anti-homophobia bill riles up openly gay cabinet minister

Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities Glen Murray

The Ontario government has made another step over the religious freedom line. Life Site News reports that one of Premier Dalton McGuinty's chief cabinet ministers, Glen Murray, lashed out against Catholic bishops over the Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction.

“I have to say to the bishops: ‘You’re not allowed to do that anymore,’” said Murray, an open homosexual who serves as McGuinty’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, according to the Hansard transcript.

“I’m not allowed to say to the Catholics—nor should I—or to other Christians or Muslims or Jews, that because of your faith you’re intrinsically disordered,” he continued.

“I would never say to you that anything that goes on in your family with the person you love—can you imagine me describing a husband-and-wife relationship as inherently depraved?” he added.

The comments occured during a March 29 debate on Bill 13, Accepting Schools Act, which forces all public schools (including Catholic) in Ontario to start clubs for same-sex attracted students.

Later on in Murray's tirade, he said this wasn't an attack on Catholic schools, just a way to celebrate "diversity." 

“There’s no one here that’s suggesting that we shouldn’t teach a Catholic perspective in our schools.”

“It is about celebrating diversity. It isn’t about taking Catholic teaching out of Catholic schools,” he continued. “It’s about putting life-affirming, positive images and stories around gay and lesbian children, Muslim children, kids and women of all shapes.” 

Of course opposition to the comments were fierce from pro-family activists. 

Suresh Dominic of Campaign Life Catholics said Murray’s comments “amount to a declaration of war against the Catholic Church and all people who support traditional moral values.” 

This attack against Catholic teaching is ironic under the watch of Priemerer McGuinty who describes himself as a Catholic.

Some of the comments to the Life Site News article called for McGuinty to be excommunicated.

Students make effective counselors

Peer counselling program fosters future leaders and inspires students to help other students

Grade 11 peer counsellors Dolton Anderson (left) and James Roy Catingub say their experience helping students at St. Patricks High School has matured them. Nathan Rumohr/The B.C. Catholic

Here's my latest article on The B.C. Catholic website about the progressive peer counseling program at St. Patrick's high school:

Sometimes the best advice for students comes from other students. That's the observation made by Virginia Eckert, counselling department head at St. Patrick Regional Secondary School.

The lead faculty member of the St. Patrick's peer counselling program had no idea that a program designed to help at risk youth would help the entire student body.

"The whole program is energized by compassionate listening that characterizes how we see Christ," Eckert said. "This is how kids see the peer counsellors."

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Nun called on the carpet

Benedictine nun who as young actress starred with Elvis returns to film

On Hollywood's red carpet Feb. 26, the night of the 84th Academy Awards presentations, actress Michelle Williams was wearing Louis Vuitton. Cameron Diaz was wearing Victoria Beckham. Black-habited Mother Dolores Hart, prioress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, told reporters she was wearing the seventh-century Benedictine St. Telchilde.


If you watched the event on television, you might have caught a glimpse of Mother Dolores standing incongruously on the red carpet wearing the habit of St. Telchilde, or Theodichildis, first abbess of the Benedictine Jouarre Abbey in Seine-et-Marne, France.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Students 'Thinkfast' in Saskatchewan

Fasting event raises awareness about issues affecting global south

Students from St. Joseph Catholic High School in Saskatoon line up to register for the 25-hour Thinkfast event held at the Cathedral of the Holy Family March 22-23. Kiply Lukan Yaworski / Prairie Messenger/CCN

The B.C. Catholic has a story from Praire Messenger reporter Kiply Lukan Yaworski about a group of students fasting to raise awareness about the global south:

Students took a page from tradition, from saints, and from historical figures such as Gandhi as they joined in fasting, prayer, and study of social justice concerns.

The Thinkfast event, held March 22-23 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, was envisioned by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

The Anglicans are coming

Two bishops lead their flock home on Divine Mercy Sunday

The shield of the Anglican Church of Canada. Two bishops from the Anglican Catholic Church
of Canada will lead their clergy and people into the Catholic Church.

Canadian Catholic News' Deborah Gyapong details the latest Anglicans, from Victoria and Ottawa, set to enter the Catholic Church on April 15. Here's the latest B.C. Catholic article:

On Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, two bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) will lead their clergy and people into the Catholic Church.

The two are Bishop Peter Wilkinson from Victoria and Bishop Carl Reid from Ottawa.

Bishop Richard Gagnon of Victoria and Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ, of Ottawa will receive the groups at special Masses and afterwards provide spiritual oversight and priests for the new Catholics until their priests are ordained and their parishes can join the American Ordinariate.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Starr shoots off to retirment

Founder of Talitha Koum retires after transforming many lives

Starr Peardon (centre) is prayed over by 150 friends and family at her retirement celebration March 30. Nathan Rumohr / The B.C. Catholic

I recently attended the retirement of Starr Peardon, founder of Talitha Koum. Peardon has used the organization to take in troubled women who've battled drugs and alcohol. She has successfully turned around many of their lives:

Starr Peardon understands that people come as they are and God loves them no matter where they are in life.

She came to this understanding after cleaning herself up from drugs and alcohol with the love of God through the Sisters of the Child of Jesus. Peardon shared this love with other misguided women through her organization Talitha Koum for many years.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Jesuit's pictures document final images of Titanic

Photos taken before ship left for New York

This is the cover of "Father Browne's Titanic Album," edited by E.E. O'Donnell.
CNS photo/courtesy Father Browne S.J. Collection

The B.C. Catholic has a story from Sarah MacDonald of Catholic News Service about the lasting photographs of the Titanic taken by a Jesuit seminarian. The photos served as a resource for historians and for the 1997 blockbuster movie:

Commemorations of the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago will put the spotlight on a young Irish priest whose photographs are some of the only surviving images of life onboard the liner on its first and last voyage.

Jesuit Father Frank Browne, 1880-1960, became a prominent documentary photographer and a much-decorated chaplain in the British army in World War I.

A collection of his photographs, "Father Browne's Titanic Album" has been reprinted to mark the centenary of the demise of the massive liner, which was constructed in Belfast, Ireland, and was believed to be unsinkable.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Pope's Easter weekend coverage on The B.C. Catholic website

Read about the Holy Father leading the Church in celebration of Christ's ressurection

Pope Benedict XVI holds a candle as he celebrates the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 7, 2009. CNS photo/Giampiero Sposito, Reuters

You don't have to wait until Tuesday to find out what Pope Benedict XVI did during Easter weekend. The B.C. Catholic website will have full coverage of the Pope as he celebrates Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, and the Easter Monday "Regina Coeli" prayer.

Also read about the iMary app, Providence Health Care battling HIV in Saskatchewan, the historic story of The Sisters of St. Ann, and more.

Men and women are different

The Gender theory ideology was developed in the 1950s and has
redefined sexuality says Msgr. Tony Anatrella.

Gender theory 'creates serious problems,' says priest

Social psychiatry specialist Msgr. Tony Anatrella said gender theory is causing sexual identity confusion in society. The B.C. Catholic has CCN's Deborah Gyapong's story:

One of civilization's pillars, the objective recognition of sexual difference, is collapsing, a priest psychoanalyst warned the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) annual seminar here March 22-23.

Gender theory, an ideology which developed in the 1950s, has redefined sexuality, moving it away from objective sexual differences to subjective notions based on sexual orientation, said Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a Paris psychoanalyst and specialist in social psychiatry.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Genetically suited for the priesthood

Father Allore enjoys scientific pursuits while serving the Lord

Father Robert Allore, SJ, says he went from medical research to the Jesuits, but he hasn't totally deserted the research; he is studying the nervous system. Moussa Faddoul/Special to The B.C. Catholic.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver has a new Jesuit priest. B.C. Catholic contributor Karen Murphy Corr details the background of St. Mark's at UBC pastor, and geneticist, Father Robert Allore, SJ:

The new pastor at St. Mark's Parish at UBC is committed to promoting ongoing dialogue between the voices of science and faith.

"It's good to be able to do the science and serve the Church," said Father Robert Allore, SJ, a geneticist whose work has focused on questions relating to the development of the nervous system.

"Genetics is pretty active these days. I hope to help individuals navigate the meaning of genetic information in our age, to know that science does not have to be separate from faith, to help them understand what meaning this information has for their life plan."

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.
 

Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church? asks Holy Father

At Holy Thursday Mass, Pope Benedict XVI criticizes dissent from Church teachings

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Holy Thursday Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, April 5. Photo Paul Haring/CNS.

Priests were called to renew their fidelity with Christ but not to go against Church teaching, said the Pope during Holy Thursday Mass in Rome. The B.C. Catholic has the details from Catholic News Service reporter Carol Glatz:

During a Mass in which priests renew their promises of fidelity to Christ, Pope Benedict XVI firmly criticized dissent from church teachings and disobedience of God's will as illegitimate pathways toward reform and renewal.

Surrounded by more than 1,600 priests, bishops and cardinals, the pope cautioned against calls for women's ordination, saying such campaigns seemed more "a desperate push" to fulfill one's own preferences rather than a sincere attempt to conform one's life more closely to Christ.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Inmates donate art

Fraser Valley convicts create art for cancer fundraiser

Josh Ismirnioglou (right) and friends visit with B.C. Lions Joash Gesse (bottom left) and Marco Iannuzzi. Members of the Lions were part of the Hoops for Hope fundraiser at St. John Brebeuf high school in Abbotsford, March 16.
Nathan Rumohr/The B.C. Catholic.

Prisoners from the Fraser Regional and Ford Mountain Correctional Centres showed they're not all hardened criminals when they donated art to a fundraiser held for a correction officer's son. B.C. Catholic contributor Karen Murphy Corr explains:

 People bidding on silent auction items at the Hoops for Hope fundraiser for Josh, whose mother is a corrections officer, might be surprised to learn the story behind some of the artwork and small crafts.

"Approximately 35 inmates took part in creating, fabricating, and constructing the various donated items," confirmed Tasha Schollen, spokeswoman for the Government Communications and Public Engagement office of the Ministry of Justice.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

NDP delays passage of anti-human trafficking bill

C-310 author shocked after securing support of all parties

Conservative MP Joy Smith.

I'm not sure if the New Democratic Party did themselves any favours by delaying a bill that fit right into their political wheelhouse. CCN's eye on Ottawa, Deborah Gyapong, explains in the latest B.C. Catholic article:

Conservative MP Joy Smith expressed shock on Mar. 30 the NDP prevented debate on her anti-trafficking Bill C-310 and delayed the bill from going immediately to the Senate.

Smith had expected the NDP would support her bill as they had at every previous stage. It had just unanimously passed through the Justice Committee with no recommendations.

“I am absolutely stunned by this,” said MP Joy Smith. “Bill C-310 will strengthen Canada’s efforts to combat human trafficking and this should not be a partisan matter. I have worked so hard to secure the support of all parties and have appreciated the support of all MPs for this Bill up until today.”

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Prostitution now legal in Ontario

Brothels decriminalized in Canada's largest province, groups call for 'Nordic laws'

The Ontario Court of Appeal

The moral fabric of Canada took another blow as demonstrated by this B.C. Catholic article from Michael Swan of the Catholic Register:

Now that Ontario's highest court has found most laws in the country concerning prostitution are unconstitutional, people on all sides of the debate are urging parliament to act.

In a landmark ruling likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal rendered a decision on March 26 that legalizes brothels and allows prostitutes to hire protectors and other staff. Public soliciting and pimping remain illegal, but the court ruled that prostitutes have a constitutional right to work in safe environments.

The court suspended implementation of its decision for one year to give parliament time to amend the criminal code.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Lions battle Bears in charity fundraiser in Abbotsford

Grey Cup Champions play St. John Brebeuf boys basketball team in an effort to help a local family

Josh Ismirnioglou (right) sits with two friends holding the Grey Cup and B.C. Lions Joash Gesse (left), Akeem Foster (back), and Marco Iannuzzi (right), during a charity basketball game to raise money for Ismirnioglou's battle with cancer. Nathan Rumohr / The B.C. Catholic

Recently I witnessed a charity fundraiser that brought the B.C. Lions to St. John Brebeuf high school in Abbotsford. The Lions played the Brebeuf Bears in a basketball game to raise money for one of the school's students who is battling cancer:

An Abbotsford boy received a big boost in his fight against cancer from the Grey Cup Champion B.C. Lions March 16.

St. John Brebeuf (SJB) hosted a basketball fundraiser called Hoops for Hope for student Josh Ismirnioglou: the B.C. Lions battled the SJB Bears. There was also a silent art auction.

"We are overwhelmed," said Cheryle Ismirnioglou, his mother. "I can't believe the Grey Cup champions are here for Josh."

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Dating can be "heavenly" for Catholics

Young Franciscan author says getting to know God is like dating

Here is a story explaining getting to know God in down-to-earth, even earthy, terms. Any link between this approach and Theology of the Body?

Getting to know God is akin to entering a dating relationship, according to Franciscan Brother Daniel P. Horan. When two people already like one another, they devote copious amounts of time and energy to learning everything they can about each other and joyfully anticipate spending time together, he explained.

Brother Horan, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, is the author of "Dating God: Live and Love in the Way of St. Francis," published by St. Anthony Messenger Press. At 28, he is not very far removed from the more traditional understanding of dating.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Presentation serves up better understanding of Islam

Catholic After Hours group hears of differences discussing religion with Eastern, Western people

Dr. Daniel Holmes (right) converses at a Catholic After Hours Event called "Muslim converts to Christianity" March 18 at the Irish Heather Pub in Gastown.

A doctor from St. Paul's Hospital says it is not uncommon for Muslims to encounter Jesus through dreams. Here's his story.

Dr. Daniel Holmes spoke at the Catholic After Hours conversation series March 18 about a "universally important topic": Muslim converts to Christianity.

Dr. Holmes, who specializes in endocrine diagnostics at St. Paul's Hospital, first encountered Muslims in his role as a physician. Before that, the self-proclaimed "Baptist with many Catholic friends" acknowledged, he knew very little about Islam aside from what he had heard in the news media.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Churches to help former homeless overcome loneliness

Adjusting to life off the streets is usually a lonely experience

Darrell, a former homeless man, said reintegrating back into society can be a lonely experience. Photo Ramon Gonzalez/Western Catholic Reporter/CCN.

Living on the streets isn't normal to most people, but for the former homeless, adjusting to regular life isn't "normal" and it's often lonely. The B.C. Catholic has an article from Ramon Gonzalez of the Western Catholic Reporter about Edmonton's plan to support the homeless adjusting back into society:

Three years into the implementation of Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, about 1,600 people have made the journey from homelessness to home.

However, adjusting to a new life off the streets takes time and is usually a lonely experience. Homeless people have left behind their social network and have yet to build a new one.

Darrell, a former homeless man and drug addict who has spent the past two decades in and out of jail, got a new one-bedroom apartment a year ago.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.

Cubans celebrate Good Friday as a national holiday

Pope also asked Raul Castro for further freedoms for Catholics in Cuba

People take part in an outdoors Stations of the Cross procession in Havana March 7. Cuba's government, after a request from Pope Benedict XVI, declared Good Friday 2012 a national holiday. CNS photo/Reuters.

It appears Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Cuba is already paying off. The B.C. Catholic has a story from Carol Glatz of Catholic News Service about Cuba recognizing Good Friday as a national holiday:

The Vatican spokesman praised Cuba's decision to accept Pope Benedict XVI's request to make Good Friday a national holiday this year.

"It is certainly a very positive sign," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said April 1.

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.