Making a bold, new Assumption

New church for parishioners in PoCo

 

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, celebrated a special Mass for the opening of the new church for Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Port Coquitlam Dec. 16.

Over the years, the congregation outgrew the original parish church. They fundraised for more than a decade to build a church that would meet the growing needs of the parish.

OLOA pastor Father Ron Thompson and Abbott John Braganza, OSB, of Westminster Abbey in Mission also concelebrated Mass. 

Previous assistants and pastors who also concelebrated include Father Rufin Mika, Father Edwin Neufeld, and Father Anicet Pinto.

The celebration took place on the anniversary of the original church's opening.

Group wants the debate

Pro-lifers mount their offensive

We Want the Debate has debuted a new posters for its latest campaign, Legal Blindness.

The group is a project of Alliance for Life Ontario. It is a response to many politicians stating that the abortion debate is settled in Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said neither elected representatives nor the people of Canada would be allowed to debate abortion during his term, which the We Want the Debate calls "tyranny, not democracy."

The Legal Blindness poster campaign is part of a series of activities over the next few months to highlight the organization's viewpoint.

New study released on shroud colours

The Shroud of Turin has passed yet another examination


Scientists at Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Development are saying that the colours on the famous shroud must have been produced using some form of electro-magnetic energy not available in medieval times.

After testing the colours, the scientific team  concluded that their shade, texture, and depth must have been imprinted using something equivalent to ultraviolet lasers capable of generating extremely brief pulses of light.

As lasers weren't around at the time, the scientists think that the colours may have been created because of "some form of electro-magnetic energy (such as a flash of light at a short wavelength)."

The Vatican has never said the shroud was the authentic burial cloth of Christ - just that the image reminds believers of Christ's sufferings while the Italian scientific team called their findings "another piece of the puzzle."

Vatican confirms Canadian's miracle

Blessed Tekakwitha to be canonized 

Pope Benedict XVI has recognized the miracles of Kateri Tekakwitha, setting her up to become the first aboriginal saint in North America.

The Vatican announced Monday, that a miracle attributed to her has been confirmed, though they don't say which miracle was confirmed.

She died at the age of 24 in 1680 and is entombed inside the St. Francis-Xavier Church in Kahnawake, a Mohawk community near Montreal. It is said that her face was scarred from a smallpox outbreak that also killed her immediate family. However, eyewitnesses say her scarred face cleared after her death.

Historian Allan Greer from McGill University says Tekakwitha has long been considered an unofficial saint by her supporters in the Americas.

"It's very important for many indigenous Catholic people to have a saint that is their saint," Greer says. She practised a "heroic Catholicism but remained Mohawk in her language and culture. She takes a European religion but remains Mohawk at the same time."

A date for the canonization has not yet been set.

See The B.C. Catholic for Canadian reaction to Tekakwitha canonization.

D&P collects for typhoon disaster

B.C. and Yukon Development and Peace animator John Gabor says collections have now started for Filipino relief efforts.

Filipino flood victims

A devastating typhoon struck Mindanao, killing close to 700 people. Relief agencies are saying that 800 are missing.




NASSA (Caritas Philippines) and Catholic Relief Services will forwards donations from Canadian Catholics to Development and Peace as soon as they are received, says Gabor.


Donations can be made through the Development and Peace online donation page at www.devp.org/en/donate/givenow. Or call the emergency line at 1-888-664-3387.

Hitchens hitches a ride to eternity

Famous atheist succumbs to cancer

Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, died yesterday at the age of 62, due to complications from oesophagal cancer.

He is famous for numerous debates on the existence of God and the value of religion with a number of theologians, politicians, and other public figures, including former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The journalist, critic, and essayist also was a contributor to Vanity Fair for which he wrote the debatable "Why women aren't funny?"

Despite his polarizing opinions, he was rarely boring and highly quotable.

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god," he wrote in The Portable Atheist. "Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realise that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”

Looking at a happy man

Of liturgy and life: Jesuit scholar reflects on his 46 years in Rome

Jesuit Father Robert F. Taft holds a rare book in the library of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome March 16, 2011. Father Taft, one of the foremost experts on Byzantine liturgy, is returning to the U.S. after more than 46 years in Rome.

In a sitting room where lace doilies top every table, Jesuit Father Robert F. Taft's gray sweater and wooden cane add to the impression that he's a refined retired professor.

Miracle flies to Rome

Evidence of alleged miracle credited to Archbishop Sheen heads to Rome

With evidence of her son's alleged miraculous healing boxed and sealed in front of a portrait of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Bonnie Engstrom delivers a reading at a Dec. 11 Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral in Peoria, Ill. Bonnie and Travis Engstrom of Goodfield , Ill., believe their son James Fulton Engstrom is alive because of the intercession of Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for sainthood is being considered in Rome.

Boxes wrapped in ribbon and a happy little boy are Christmas images, but the combination had another joyful meaning Dec. 11 during ceremonies closing the Diocese of Peoria's inquiry into an alleged miraculous healing through the intercession of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

Room at the inn

The Door is Open needs your support

Molson supports The Door is Open, why not you too?

The Door is Open will remain wide open thanks to the generosity of the community,

The time, food, and Christmas gifts already provided will brighten the holidays for the hundreds of adults and children who use the Catholic drop-in centre in the Downtown Eastside.

However, they are still appealing for help with financial donations.

A $40 donation funds the centre for one hour. $25 will buy coffee for an entire day at the shelter, while $15 is enough to help serve a sit-down lunch to the weekly seniors’ group. 

Donations can be mailed to: 

The Door is Open
150 Robson Street 
Vancouver, B.C., V6B 2A7 

Or call 604-443-3299 to charge your donation to Visa.

'We are fa-mi-ly'

World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

England's Bishop Patrick Lynch

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the theme One Human Family for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Bishop Patrick Lynch, who heads the Office for Migration Policy for England's Catholic bishops, said that globalization and migration have taught us that we are "one human family" because we are so inter-connected with each other.

"Once again, Pope Benedict emphasizes the central principles of Catholic Social Teaching with regard to migration - the right to migrate, the right of the State to regulate migration and the responsibility of the State to respect the dignity of every human person and therefore of every migrant," said Bishop Lynch.

Migrants must, he added, "integrate into their host country, respect its laws and national identity."

Integration, he added, is often a two-generations' process and parishes and schools have a role to play, particularly as "they often serve as the first points of entry into society and civic engagement."

Find those points which all Catholic immigrants have in common, said Bishop Lynch, including a shared faith in the Risen Lord, a shared sense of belonging to the Church, a diocese, and a local community, a shared experience of prayer and the Eucharist, and a shared commitment to building God's Kingdom.

Advent penitential services

There's still plenty of time to confess

In Canada, there are only two holy days of obligation that don't fall on Sunday, Christmas and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

This year, however, they both happen to be on a Sunday.

To make preparation for the Christmas celebrations easier, the archdiocese has added a number of special penitential services during Advent.

The archdiocese's website features an exhaustive list by deanery of the penitential services.

Mercy sister shown mercy

Mercy nun at hospital that allowed abortion 'no longer excommunicated'

Mercy Sister Margaret McBride, who is on the staff of a Phoenix hospital, is back in good standing with the Church. In May 2010 Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said she had incurred an automatic excommunication because of her role on the ethics committee that in 2009 sanctioned an abortion at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. Sister Margaret, seen in a 2008 photo, "has met the requirements for reinstatement in the Church," according to a Dec. 8 statement from the hospital, which was stripped of Catholic affiliation in December 2010. CNS photo by J.D. Long-Garcia, Catholic Sun.

A Mercy sister who was automatically excommunicated because of her role on the ethics committee that allowed an abortion to be performed at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix in 2009 is back in good standing in the Catholic Church.

Messiah discount ($20)

Handel's masterpiece just got better

Remaining tickets for the Vancouver Chamber Choir's performance of Handel's Messiah at the Orpheum Theatre tomorrow (Dec. 10) are now only $20.

The tickets made available by the Archdiocese of Vancouver are on sale today until 4:00 p.m.

The last-minute tickets can be purchased here and there are no service charges!

Indelible faith

Israeli ambassador shares research on pilgrim tattoos

Mordechay Lewy, Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, speaks at the conference he organized on permanent body marks in Rome Dec. 6. A poster for the conference is in the background.

Intellectual curiosity about a very particular aspect of Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem has got under the skin of Israel's ambassador to the Holy See.

Blessed Nykyta Dec. 11

Local priest puts on one-man show

Father Edward Evanko, of the Ukrainian Catholic parish of the Dormition of the Mother of God, will perform a one-man show about the life of Canada's first Ukrainian Catholic bishop. 

Blessed Nykyta tells the story of Nykyta Budka (1877-1949), who served as bishop to Canada's Ukrainian Catholics from 1912-1928. After he returned to the Ukraine, he was eventualy sent to the Gulags for his opposition to the Soviets, where he later died.

Father Evanko's performance commemorates the upcoming centennial of Blessed Nykyta's appointment in Canada, and is a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute in Ottawa.

It takes place this Sunday (Dec. 11) at 7 p.m. at the Mother of God Parish at 8700 Railway Rd. in Richmond. Tickets are $15 for the 1 hr 10 performance, which will be followed by refreshments.

National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal Peoples

Catholics focus on Rose Prince

Rose Prince

Dec. 12 is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and Canadians are invited to take part in. National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal Peoples.

This year Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council (CCAC) is focusing on a Dakelh woman named Rose Prince from Fort St. James, B.C. She died from complications due to Tuberculosis in 1949. However, in 1951, it was discovered that her body had not decayed after her death. Her grave is now place of pilgrimage, drawing people from across the country.

“Those present were able to see Rose’s face in perfect condition, that is to say uncorrupted by the two years in the ground,” says an account at a website dedicated to her. “When witnesses were asked to see, the school priest and Sisters, they said she was ‘transparent,’ that is to say, her body was still fresh, and ‘as if she was sleeping,’ with ‘just a tiny little smile on her face.’"

The CCAC is made up of seven First Nations members and two bishops, including Vancouver’s own First Nations coordinator Rennie Nahanee.

As Catholics pray for and with Aboriginal peoples Dec. 12, Nahanee hopes they will consider the difficulties First Nations peoples have faced throughout the years.

“Remember who your neighbor is and the story of the Good Samaritan,” he said. “Aboriginal people have contributed a lot to Canada and not just lands, minerals,-- and resources."

Guilty until proved innocent

Irish priests struggle, feeling tarred by sins of the minority

Father Martin O'Hagan, his brother Father Eugene O'Hagan and Father David Delargy sing inside San Jeronimo el Real Church in Madrid, Spain. While they are enjoying being famous, many other priests in Ireland feel they must hide from the limelight because of allegations of abuse against a minority of priests; some of these allegations are false.

Father Damien McGroarty, 29, is one of the youngest diocesan priests in Ireland. Ordained just over a year ago, he should still be at the honeymoon stage of his vocation.

App taps Catholic faith

Ignio puts prayer in the digital age

Developers have put together a new smart phone app just for Catholic prayer.

Ignio helps you live, share, and track one's faith. Through a circle of friends sharing prayer and scripture Ignio provides, the app tracks a person’s faith and brings their spiritual life into a social media environment.

The app is a project of We Do Believe, an evangelizing organization, which aims to to fund forward thinking evangelization efforts and products.

Many Catholic youth have already begun embracing the product.

“Ignio has really helped connect and motivate my friends and me on our spirtual journeys," says one Ingio user. "It has quickly become one of my favorite Apps!”

God(s): A User's Guide

Exhibit teaches the richness of faith

Torah Ark originally from a Glace Bay,  Nova
Scotia synagogue that used to serve 2,000 Jewish
worshipers. CCN Photo.

The Canadian Museum of Civilizatiion in Gatineau called God(s): A User’s Guide explores the diversity of religious belief without slipping into moral relativism.

The exhibit, which opened Dec. 2 and will run until Sept. 3, 2012, invites people to contemplate the ultimate questions about meaning that underlie all religious faiths. These questions include the existence of God, the creation of the universe, and life after death.

“Through this exhibition, we hope to generate ongoing discussion on how to think about the role of religion in the context of a contemporary world, an increasingly globalized world, and a culturally diverse Canada,” said the exhibit’s curator Stephen Inglis.

For a full story on the exhibit, visit The B.C. Catholic's website.

Poor climate policies are environmental "apartheid"

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga has warned that many of the world's nations have environmental and energy policies that "divide man from nature."

Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga

Responding to stories coming out of South Africa where delegates from 200 countries gathered last week for global climate talks, Cardinal Maradiaga, who is president of the Church's confederation of relief and development agencies, said, "Don't we realize that the climate is out of control? How long will countless people have to go on dying before adequate decisions are taken?"

The Harper government will not renew its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol once it expires in 2012, said Environment Minister Peter Kent, speaking in Durban.

Kyoto has been the only legally binding treaty in the world that requires countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The government is setting less demanding targets for Canadian industries, arguing that keeping to Kyoto would harm Canadian business opportunities.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Maradiaga continues to argue that the conference delegates have had their voices "silenced by economic power."

No, it's a Christmas Tree

Criticism grows over governor's 'holiday tree' label for public display

The Christmas tree is placed in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Dec. 5. This year's tree is a 100 foot-tall spruce from Ukraine, and no, it is not being called a "holiday tree."

A 17-foot Colorado blue spruce is standing tall at the centre of controversy in the Rhode Island Statehouse rotunda for what it is being -- or more important, not being -- called.

Gaudeamus in a Gaudi church

Vatican exhibit displays inspirational elements of Gaudi church

Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi's Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is pictured in a wall-size display in an exhibit at the Vatican.

Without leaving the Vatican, visitors exiting St. Peter's Basilica can gain firsthand exposure to another impressive church, Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia.