40 Days in Raincity

Pro-life campaign camps outside hospital

Recently the 40 Days for Life campaign hit Vancouver and set up camp outside of the B.C. Children and Women's Hospital.

Here are some photos.

Vatican thinktank offers solutions to "runaway capitalism"

Reform needed for international financial and monetary systems, say cardinals

Pope Benedict XVI with Cardinals

In response to the Occupy Wall Street protesters and other demonstrations around the world, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace wants a crack down on the runaway capitalism that is causing chaos in the world's money markets.

The Council is calling for reforms to be policed by a global public authority such as the U.N. which could inject a dose of ethics to replace rampant profiteering and reduce the monumental gap between the world's rich and the poor.

A pamphlet released by the Council advocates the taxing of financial transactions to promote global development and sustainability under a central world bank to fight profiteering by Wall Street and other financial institutions.

Council secretary Bishop Mario Toso said that much of the basis for the document was from Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate which criticized free market fundamentalism.

Wall Street Protesters 

The Council head, Cardinal Peter Turkson said that the Pope would be keeping a close eye on the G20 conferences in Cannes on Nov. 3 and 4 to produce "a clear vision of economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspects."

As a man lives....

Catholics don't rejoice, but recall Gadhafi's brutality, look to future

Women celebrate the death of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi after Friday prayers at Martyrs Square in Tripoli Oct. 21. The Vatican said his death marked the end of a "harsh and oppressive regime" that was based on power instead of human dignity.

Catholic leaders said they could not rejoice at the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, but they recalled some of his more brutal moments and speculated on the future of Christians in the region.

Patents not pending for embryos

Catholics hail European court ruling on patents derived from embryos

Frozen embryos in a storage tank.

A leading Catholic bioethical institute has welcomed the decision of a European court to ban the patenting of any medical treatment derived from destructive experiments on human embryos.

An interview with Dr. Scott Hahn

Biblical Scholar talks to The B.C. Catholic

The B.C. Catholic published a story on biblical scholar Scott Hahn's visit to Vancouver for the 2011 Theology Conference Sept. 17.

The B.C. Catholic had a chance to sit down with Hahn for a one-on-one interview, where he discussed the relationship between Catholics and Evangelical Christians.

Ordination is sex-specific

Pro-women's ordination movement attempts to bring petition to Vatican

Janice Sevre-Duszynska, who claims to have been ordained a Catholic priest in 2008 in Lexington, Ky., is engaged by Italian police as she approaches St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 17. She was not arrested nor detained, but Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois and two other advocates for women's ordination were briefly detained by police during the demonstration.

After marching up the wide boulevard to St. Peter's Square, Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois and two other demonstrators supporting women's ordination were briefly detained by Italian police.

Rome inherits riot shame

Wall Street outrage protests travel around the globe. Can such protests remain peaceful?

Vancouver riot

A few months ago, Vancouver rioters gave the city a bad name after the hometown favourite Vancouver Canucks lost out to Boston in the Stanley Cup finals.

Metropolitan police in Tottenham

Next, London was the scene of looting and arson which spread around England in response to the police shooting of Tottenham resident Mark Duggan.

Now, Rome has joined this cheery little club of cities where people smash up stores and set fire to cars in spite of calls to keep protests peaceful.

The rioting is just a few blocks from the Vatican where, in a general audience in 2009, Pope Benedict blamed human greed for the current global economic crisis.

The pope called greed a "vice" of the human heart which has led to "failure of correct ethical behaviour."

"We see," he added, "that the root of greed is precisely where this crisis was born." Greed, said the pontiff, views possession and appearance as the most important things in the world.

Peace encounter in Assisi

Assisi III: Pope puts his own mark on prayer summit's third edition

Pope Benedict XVI lights a lamp in 2007 at the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy. The Pope will go to Assisi Oct. 27 by train with members of many other religions.

Slowly and carefully the Vatican is setting the stage for the third edition of the interreligious "prayer for peace" encounter in the Italian pilgrimage town of Assisi.

Nothing's perishing at St. Edmund's

North Vancouver Parish hits 100

St. Edmund's Parish caps off its centennial year with a special Mass celebrated by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, followed by a gala dinner at the St. Thomas Aquinas High School gymnasium.

Previous events in the parish's historic year include a centennial Mass in March, the blessing of a relic of St. Edmund, and Bishop David Monroe celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Father Jerald D'Souza, OCD, has been pastor for the past two years (or one-fiftieth of the parish's history) and tells the North Shore News that the parish still has a strong congregation of about 800.

"We help people, especially those who come to the door," he says. "We help the youth in our parish and the poor families. People are very loving and they help the neighbourhood. People in our parish are good Christians."

The Mass starts at 4 p.m. Oct. 15. St. Edmund's is located at 545 Mahon Ave. in North Vancouver.

World's richest man to the rescue

Telecom tycoon rescues $52 million plaza next to Mexican basilica

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu

President Felipe Calderon inaugurated the new Plaza Mariana Oct. 12 adjacent to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but credit for rescuing the project from budgetary and political problems went to the world's richest man, Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.

Richmond pastor goes National

National Catholic Register interviews Father Edward Evanko

Dormition of the Mother of God pastor Father Edward Danylo Evanko is featured in a long Q&A in the National Catholic Register, the oldest Catholic newspaper in the U.S.

In the interview, the actor-turned-priest-turned-priest/actor talks about growing up in Winnipeg, working on Broadway and Los Angeles, falling in love with Holy Rosary Cathedral, studying for the priesthood in Rome, and his one-man shows.

Father Evanko also discusses the subtleties that make the Roman Catholic Church and Ukrainian Catholic Church different, but still in communion.

"Theologically we are identical," he says. "Your Mass and our Divine Liturgy: exactly the same things happen, maybe at different times, maybe with slightly different verbiage. But our Divine Liturgy is the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, who was a bishop of Constantinople, and there is a different emphasis on, how can I put it — what you call the sacraments, we call the mysteries. It’s not better or worse. More emphasis on the inexplicables of what we believe in."

Another full story on Father Evanko is available at The B.C. Catholic.

For grieving parents

Mourning Mothers hold Infant Loss Service

Health Canada says October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month.

In honour of this, Mourning Mothers will hold the Infant Loss Remembering Service Oct. 15 at 1pm.

The service will be held at the “Baby Tree” at Langley Lawn Cemetery, for parents and family members grieving the loss of an infant.

The cemetery is located at 4393 208 St. in Langley.

Homecoming for Episcopal parish

Washington cardinal confirms members of former Episcopal community

During a Mass marked by a joyful homecoming of faith, Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl welcomed 71 members of a former Episcopal parish into full communion in the Catholic Church with the rite of reception Oct. 9 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Helping families cope with Alzheimer's, Dementia

Tapestry Foundation for Health Care announces a lecture series to help families care for Alzheimer's and Dementia sufferers. 

Culture, Autonomy, and Aged Care - Oct. 12 with Dr Grant Gilette from New Zealand at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, 4lst Avenue and Oak Street at 7:15.

The early diagnosis and progression of Alzheimer's Disease with Dr. Serge Gauthier from McGill University Centre for Studies in Aging - Oct. 14, Vancouver Convention Centre, 999 Canada Place at 7:15 p.m.

The positive potential of caregiving by Dr. Davidicus Wong at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, 41st Avenue and Oak Street, Oct. 21 at 7:15.

To register, go to www.tapestryfoundation.ca. and click the online registration.

Famine stalks horn

Horn of Africa risks 'lost generation' due to famine, says cardinal

Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Dijibouti, the apostolic nuncio to Mogadishu, Somalia, speaks at a press conference on the Horn of Africa famine at the Vatican Oct. 7. Looking on is Michel Roy, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis. CNS photo by Paul Haring.

Not only are millions of lives at risk in the Horn of Africa due to hunger and drought, those who escape the famine then risk becoming a lost generation due to a severe lack of stability, education and resources, said a top Vatican official.

Food on the fly

On train ride north, hungry migrants grab sustenance from Mexican women

The horn sounds and the ground rumbles, setting off a mad dash by a group of women armed with food and drink for the hundreds of hungry migrants riding atop "the train of the flies."

Taking action for the homeless

Homeless Action Week kicks off in time for the holidays

One of the best ways to show your thanks this holiday weekend is to give back to the community.

This is why the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) is once again holding Homeless Action Week Oct. 10 to 16.

The RSCH is a coalition of community organizations and all levels of government, which began more than 10 years ago to address the problem of homelessness in the community. One of their first actions was Homeless Action Week, where community organizers and volunteers hold special events for homeless people throughout Metro Vancouver.

One organization involved is the Archdiocese of Vancouver's own Catholic Charities, which, among other things, manages The Door is Open, and the Men's Hostel at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in downtown Vancouver.

Visit the Stop Homelessness website to sign up to help in your neighbourhood.

Sunday sacred summit, source

Keeping Sunday sacred is 'summit, source' of Catholicism, cardinal says

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, retired prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, blesses a child Sept. 24 during the Charlotte, N.C., Diocese's seventh annual eucharistic congress in Charlotte. More than 11,000 people attended the two-day gathering.

Cardinal Francis Arinze told attendees at the Diocese of Charlotte's Eucharistic congress that "religion is not an option."

Saudi Arabia - one step forward, two back?

Women can vote soon but getting to the polls might be tricky!

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah has promised that women will be able to vote in 2015 elections yet those same women could face flogging if caught behind the wheel of a car.

Last May, says Amnesty International, Manal Al-Sharif posted a video of herself behind the wheel of a car on YouTube and was sentenced to a beating of 10 lashes because driving is against Sharia Law for women.

While there is no official law in place, a religious decree has the same effect as law and women caught driving are considered to have violated the country's statues.

The Saudis have been putting in measures to pacify people because of the threat of the Arab-Spring movement which has brought down despotic regimes in the area. Saudi women are vowing to force the government to end the driving ban. Thus far, Al-Sharif has not been beaten and, as time passes, more women are petitioning the king requesting that no punishment take place.

Dead, but dead wrong

Dead wrong: Catholics must no longer support capital punishment

People hold a banner and signs on the steps of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta during a vigil for death-row inmate Troy Davis before his Sept. 21 execution. More than 200 Catholic theologians, scholars, and social justice advocates cite the executions of Troy Davis in Georgia and Lawrence Brewer in Texas in mid-September as prompting their call for abolishing the death penalty.

The Catholic Church's position on capital punishment has evolved considerably over the centuries.