Faith formation programs empower young people

Searching in the Spirit summer camp inspires newly confirmed teens, offers outdoor activities

This year's summer programs for teens include faith formation, training, and outdoor activities. Clayton Imoo says participants in the YouthLeader event "return home to take leadership roles in their parishes, schools, and communities." Photo submitted.

As summer quickly approaches, the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is busy planning its two summer training events for young people of the archdiocese: YouthLeader, and Searching in the Spirit. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


'An Act Respecting End-of-Life Care' condemned by many

The Quebec government's Bill 52, "An Act Respecting End-of-Life Care," tabled June 12, has been condemned as a form of Belgian-style euthanasia. "This is about doctors lethally injecting patients," said Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC). He noted the Act redefines palliative care to include "terminal medical sedation" and "medical aid in dying," a euphemism for euthanasia. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Pope alleged to have condemned gay lobby

In response to media flurry, the Latin American Confederation of Men and Women Religious (CLAR) released a statement on June 11 claiming that the assertion that there was a gay lobby at the Vatican "cannot be attributed with certainty to the Holy Father." For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Reflecting on 'the people of God'

We can overcome divisions: 'God is stronger,' Pope Francis says

Pope Francis is presented with a leather Harley Davidson jacket during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. CNS photo / L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters.

Pope Francis asked the tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square May 12 to overcome divisions and the fear of evangelizing by trusting that "God is stronger." For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Other stories recently posted to the site include the following:

Couples for Christ host major marriage anniversary function
Fifty-four couples renewed their commitment in a solemn ceremony at St. Bernadette Parish in Surrey May 11. The happy couples were celebrating wedding anniversaries, from 10th to 56th. The celebration, instituted in 2010, was hosted by the Couples for Christ Gift of Life Ministry for member couples. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Linda Gibbons caught counselling and praying outside an abortion facility
Police arrested Linda Gibbons outside the Morgentaler abortion facility in Toronto June 11 for praying and sidewalk counselling in contravention of a 20-year-old temporary injunction. Police handcuffed the diminutive 64-year-old grandmother, who has spent 10 of the past 20 years in prison for peacefully protesting outside abortion facilities. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

LifeCanada launches 2013 campaign

Refurbished website yields new statistics and witness accounts

The banner for LifeCanada's 2013 campaign.

LifeCanada's new campaign for 2013 is spearheaded by the re-launch of the website, abortionincanada.ca.

LifeCanada states the website "is one of the most comprehensive sites covering almost every aspect of abortion, including funding, methods, public opinion, and statistics. It has become a top hit for searches on abortion, garnering some 150,000 unique visitors every year."

The website, rechristened on May 9, now features updated statistics on abortion, witness accounts (with accompanying videos), and more.

“LifeCanada has chosen to use this already well-visited site as an outreach to women who might be in a state of indecision about their pregnancies,” said Natalie Sonnen, the executive director of LifeCanada, in a press release. “Apart from the current and accurate statistical information that we present, we also felt the need to reach these women with messages of hope. It is not easy to find positive messages in a culture that so readily promotes abortion as the only option for women experiencing unplanned pregnancies.”

The new campaign's theme is "You'll never regret loving this much." 

Pope Francis speaks candidly to schoolchildren

Pontiff answers questions on Jesuits, faith, and papal apartment

Pope Francis, seen during his first audience with the media March 16, provided frank responses to students June 7.
(Alistair Burns / The B.C. Catholic)

Pope Francis put down his script and engaged in a spontaneous question-and-answer period with students in the Paul VI Hall June 7. According to Vatican Radio:

Nine thousand students from Jesuit elementary and high schools in Italy and Albania listened to the 76-year-old pontiff.

“I prepared a text, but it’s five pages! A little boring,” he acknowledged.

He summarized his speech and took questions instead.

When asked if it was difficult to leave his family and friends and become a priest, the Pope said yes. “It is not easy but there are beautiful moments and Jesus helps you and gives you a little joy.”

When asked why he wanted to join the Jesuits, he said he wanted to be a missionary and he was attracted by the religious order’s missionary zeal and activity.

When asked why he decided to renounce the usual papal apartment in the apostolic palace, he said it was a question of personality, not of luxury.

“I have a need to live among people.” he stated.

"If I were to live alone, perhaps a little isolated, it would not be good for me. … It is my personality. … It is not an issue of personal virtue, it is only that I cannot live alone.”

He added that the poverty in the world today is a scandal. “All of us today must think about how we can become a little poorer,” he said, so as to resemble Jesus.

When a student doubting his faith asked for words of encouragement, the Pope likened the faith to a long walk. 

“To walk is an art,” he said, “To walk is the art of looking at the horizon, thinking about where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue. And many times, the walk is difficult, it is not easy… There is darkness… even days of failure… one falls… But always think this: do not be afraid of failure.

Read the full article and listen to the Vatican Radio report here.

Neocatechumenal Way takes evangelization outdoors

Confession, Scripture reading, testimonies, and singing draw spectators

Members of the Neocatechumenal Way sing and dance in Robson Square May 5 as part of a five-week outdoor mission. Agnieszka Krawczynski / The B.C. Catholic.

Singing voices echoed off tall buildings in downtown Vancouver as members of the Neocatechumenal Way hosted their first mission in Robson Square. Every Sunday this Easter season, many members of The Way gathered in the square to evangelize in the open air. The mission involved singing, dancing, testimonies, Scripture readings, reflection, and the sacrament of confession. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Other stories recently posted to the site include these two:

Jesuit priest decries Western support for the Muslim Brotherhood

Father Henri Boulad, SJ, the director of the Jesuit Cultural Centre in Alexandria, Egypt, singled out the United States, France, and Great Britain for supporting the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood, which he said has created a fascist regime in Egypt far worse than the military dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak that preceded it. He warned of looming catastrophe. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


French priest suspended after Freemasonry revealed

Bishop Yves Boivineau of Annecy in southeastern France has barred a local priest from public ministry after he was exposed as an active Freemason. Father Pascal Vesin, 43, was suspended for his active membership in a Masonic lodge of the Grand Orient of France. He became a member in 2001, five years after his 1996 ordination as a Catholic priest, the French newspaper Le Figaro reports. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Church and science as co-workers

Vancouver archdiocese takes on earthquakes through modern technology


Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller is photographed outside the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver, March 27.
(Rafal Gerszak / The Globe and Mail)

Mark Hume's article draws attention to infrastructure upgrades necessary to increase protection against earthquake threats on the West Coast.

All structures built before 1990 will undergo examination and renovation (if needed) to fit the new earthquake codes. Also, the archdiocese, in cooperation with the University of British Columbia's civil engineering department, will install P-wave sensors in over 30 schools and 50 churches in Metro Vancouver. The upgrade program is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. In the past 20 years, the archdiocese has spent $250 million on various building projects.

With the use of the sensors, the archdiocese becomes "a leader in Canada when it comes to seismic preparedness," said Archbishop Michael Miller.

Its churches may be watched over by patron saints and guardian angels, but the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver has decided to turn to engineers for increased protection from earthquakes that have long threatened the West Coast. 

In a statement that was released on the weekend, Archbishop Michael Miller announced that all the parishes in Metro Vancouver have been asked to “renew or rebuild their schools, churches and other buildings to meet the latest earthquake codes.”

For full story, visit the Globe and Mail website.  

Benedict XVI: "I read, I pray. I'm fine."

Italian site may be looking for controversy

Retired Pope Benedict greets Pope Francis at the Vatican. Benedict now lives in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens. CNS photo / L'Ossevatore Romano via Reuters.

An article in the Catholic World News reported that Pope Benedict XVI looked to be more stooped and physically weaker than he had a few months ago according to his old friend, Manfred Lutz, however he remains mentally sound. Lutz informed the Bild Zeitung that Benedict was in full agreement with Pope Francis's theological views. The Italian site, Libero, took this to mean that Benedict was suggesting that he disagrees with Pope Francis on other issues.

“I’m fine. I live like a monk,” Benedict XVI told an old German friend who visited him recently at his new residence in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery on the Vatican grounds. 

Manfred Lutz, a German scholar who is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Bild Zeitung that he found the retired Pontiff “physically weaker and a bit more stooped” than a few months earlier, but still mentally alert and cheerful. He said that the Pope-emeritus found himself thoroughly in accord with the theological statements of Pope Francis. 

Full story available here.

Pope Francis explains the strength of God's love

God shows His love with closeness and tenderness

Pope Francis says that closeness is the relationship we have with Jesus, Who is physically present to watch over us; tenderness is Jesus caring and looking after our well-being. Together, closeness and tenderness reveal the strength of God's love. According to Pope Francis, both closeness and tenderness are the pillars that represent God's relationship with us. Vatican Radio reports:

It's harder to open our hearts and let God love us than to love God in return. But the only way to really love Him is to love others, especially the poor. God is an expert in the science of tenderness, and we should allow ourselves to be loved by Him. This was Pope Francis's message at morning Mass Friday on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Francis said:

"A God who draws near out of love, walks with His people – and this walk comes to an unimaginable point – we could never have imagined that the same Lord would become one of us and walk with us, be present with us, present in His Church, present in the Eucharist, present in His Word, present in the poor. He is present, walking with us. And this is closeness: the shepherd close to His flock, close to His sheep, whom He knows, one by one."

Full story available here.

CMA urges action on poverty

Health outcomes improve when people eat, live better

Dr. Anna Reid, president of the Canadian Medical Association, appears before members of the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus. Deborah Gyapong / CCN.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) wants parliamentarians to consider the role poverty plays in health outcomes as well as demands on the health care system. CMA president Dr. Anna Reid urged members of the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus (APAPC) June 4 to consider the "social determinants of health." For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Also recently posted:

Pontifical Academy starts 'Friends for Life'

The Pontifical Academy for Life has started a group called "Friends for Life" to expand its network around the world. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Sixteen Jesuit priests to be ordained in the U.S.

First ordinations into Society of Jesus since election of Jesuit Pope

The National Jesuit News released an article on the upcoming ordination of 16 Jesuit priests barely three months after the election of the first Jesuit Pope in history. The new priests will be ordained this month in the United States. Although they all hail from the U.S., each has served and studied in several countries around the world.

Three months after the historic election of the first Jesuit Pope, the Society of Jesus, the largest order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church, is ordaining 16 new Jesuit priests this month in the United States.

Ordination ceremonies are being held at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.; Holy Name of Jesus Church in New Orleans; Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Los Angeles; and Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola University Chicago.

More information available here.

Message for future priests

Cardinal Piacenza publishes a letter to seminarians to celebrate the day for the sanctification of priests



Cardinal Mauro Piacenza (Photo: caorleduomo.blogspot.ca)

"Priests are channels through which God makes the divine call resound in the heart of those He has chosen," Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, writes in his letter to seminarians published June 7.

He reminds seminarians of their role as the mediator between heaven and earth, which is fulfilled through the celebration of the liturgy and the sacraments. Their response to their priestly vocation, Cardinal Piacenza added, must be of generosity and joy, empowered by fidelity and perseverance.

Here is an excerpt:

Dearest Seminarians,

The Primacy of Grace in the Priestly Life

On the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate most significantly the day for the sanctification of priests and, as you are in the Seminary to respond in the most fitting way possible to your vocation, it is important for me to send you this letter, with great affection, so that you may feel involved and, as such, remember this important occasion.

We contemplate together today the origin of the divine vocation. The Holy Father has emphasized firmly the love in which those who are Priests of Christ and of the Church must participate. In his homily at his first Chrism Mass (28 March 2013), Pope Francis said "This I ask you: be shepherds, with the 'odour of the sheep.'" By this striking image, the Successor of Peter invites us to have a strong and solid love for the People of God, a love which – as the same Pontiff has noted – is not fed from purely human sources, nor is it reinforced by techniques of self-persuasion.

For full text, click here.

G8 meeting draws prayers

Bishops urge G8 leaders not to forget the poor in advance of U.K. meeting

A displaced woman carries home grain in Agok, a town in the contested Abyei region of South Sudan. Catholic leaders have reminded the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations to protect poor people and assist developing countries when they meet in Northern Ireland in mid-June. CNS photo / Paul Jeffrey.

The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic bishops has written Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging him not to forget the poor at the June 17-18 G8 meeting in the United Kingdom. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.



Other stories recently posted to the site include:

Study documents abortion's global health threat to women

A new study released during the 66th annual World Health Assembly identified and exposed what it claimed to be the harmful and often overlooked impact that abortion has on women's health. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Archbishop to welcome Latino 'brothers in Christ'

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, will welcome farm workers to a Mass he will celebrate in Spanish in St. Luke's Church June 16. That will be Father's Day this year. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Conference studies connection between religious and secular

'Bridging the Secular Divide' attended by speakers of various faiths

A two-day conference at Montreal's McGill University featured speakers from various religious backgrounds as it explored questions of how faith should interact with public discourse. Father John Walsh, a speaker at the event, blogged his opinion on the conference the next day:

Persons from a myriad of religious faith traditions were represented and each took an active role in contributing to the Canadian religious mosaic and expressed varied views of how religious people are investing time and energy to dialogue with the secularization of society.

The priest continues...

An interesting distinction was made between religious persons and religious institutions; the former to be given total religious freedom in the public sphere, while the latter were not free to do whatever they pleased in the public sphere.

Personally I will have to give more time to rethink this distinction.

Full blog post here.

Human ecology calls for care for all humanity

Pope stresses threats to human person on Environment Day

A combination of pictures shows Pope Francis catching a rosary thrown by someone in the crowd as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. CNS photo / Max Rossi, Reuters.

"The human person is in danger, this is certain; the human person is in danger today, here is the urgency of human ecology!" exclaimed Pope Francis June 5 during his general audience. "We are called not only to respect the natural environment, but also to show respect for, and solidarity with, all the members of our human family." For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Other stories recently posted to the site include:

'Protecting God's Children' screening process keeps offenders out of Church ministries
The Catholic Church in Canada is ahead of its neighbours to the south when it comes to addressing sexual abuse by clergy, according to Father George Mulligan, CSC. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Aggressively secular society creates cartoon version of Christian faith

An aggressively secular society has created a cartoon version of the Christian faith, said the keynote speaker at the 47th National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa June 4. For
full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Blessed John XXIII remembered for peace initiative

Late pontiff worked behind the scenes during Cuban Missile Crisis

Blessed Pope John XXIII was named Time Magazine's "Man of the Year," Jan. 4, 1963.
(Photo credit: Time.com) 

In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. In the midst of this political turmoil, one man dared to speak for peace: Pope John XXIII.

The pontiff spoke in French on the responsibility of world leaders to avoid such widespread destruction, Oct. 25, 1962. His appeal was broadcast over the airwaves of Vatican Radio.

Vatican Radio recently decided to take a look back to those tense days.

Listen to the report here.

Walkers spread culture of life with tiny steps

Crossroads group begin three-month trek from Vancouver, to Montreal, to Ottawa

Crossroads walkers Anthony Finch (left), Amy MacInnis, Anna Beresford,
Mariana Mazzarolo, Lucy Landry, Bethany Atkinson, Ian Gallagher, and Corinne
Kelley dipped their toes in the water at Kitsilano Beach May 20.
Alistair Burns / The B.C. Catholic. 

Mention the word "summer" to university students and they might mention a road trip to a rock concert, camping, or a dreary desk job. However, 10 enthusiastic pro-lifers from Crossroads will spend their summer witnessing to a noble cause as they trek across Canada for the pro-life cause. Read Alistair Burns's full story on The B.C. Catholic website.


Other stories recently posted to bccatholic.ca include:

A network of pro-life pregnancy centres in Colorado is the latest to take to the streets with a mobile ultrasound unit that it hopes will help women choose life and reject abortion. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.


Father Richard Doll, OMI, pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in St. Walburg, Sask., was inspired by the Year of Faith. He had spoken on the subject a couple of times during the last year, but felt the need to reach out to those he no longer saw in the pews of his parish every Sunday. For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.

Ancient art form called 'Scripture in paint'

Iconographer visualizes stories of saints

Teresa Foley writes detail on her icon of the Mother of God of the Sign at the home of iconographer Veronica Royal. CNS / Nancy Phelan Wiechec.

Betty Ellen Walter wrote an interesting story for CNS on iconographer Veronica Royal. Iconography is the visual images or symbols that represent the story of a person or movement. Royal often writes icons of saints who are not very well known or popular. She has received many commissions for her talent.

ANNANDALE, Va. (CNS) -- Veronica "Ronnie" Royal of Virginia has been an iconographer since 1998, working diligently to hone her craft and encourage the use of icons in contemplation and prayer.

Born in Nancy, France, she was raised in the Ukrainian Catholic Church by her Russian mother and Ukranian father. Icons were very much a part of her church and family life.

She is often commissioned to paint saints who are not particularly popular or are obscure, like St. Andrew Kim Taegon, namesake of a couple's adopted son. His grandmother commissioned Royal to paint the icon as a gift to her son and daughter-in-law in celebration of their new child, Taegon.

"You have to remember that the Church continues to declare saints, and yet iconography originated from the early Church," Royal said. "So there is a place for present-day iconographers to bring Catholic saints to life through this ancient tradition."

Full story here.

UGCC confirms absence of religious conflicts

 National churches work together in Galicia

An interesting article published on the website RISU has stated that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox church have reached an agreement to cooperate with one another. Although there are still many unresolved issues between the two religions, tension has decreased.

The statement by Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanych) is a true, realistic assessment of the current situation of the relations between our two national churches. Finally, the tension and false beliefs are fading. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is open to cooperation, and we are pleased that this is reciprocated by the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-MP, Fr. Dr. Ihor Shaban, the head of the UGCC Commission for Christian Unity, told the Information Department of the UGCC in response to Metropolitan Anthony's statement.

At the same time, Fr. Shaban said that there still remain many unresolved issues, especially historical ones. 

Full article here.

Hope after prison

Priest's Dismas House program helps ex-offenders start anew

The original Dismas House on Music Row was purchased by Father Jack Hickey and friends in 1972. (Photo by: Vanderbilt View)

 A story by Theresa Laurence talks about the Dismas House program in Nashville, Tenn., founded by late Father Jack Hickey in 1974.  The Dismas House provides released prisoners a safe place to live in and employment opportunities, in which they generally stay for half a year until they are able to secure an independent life. Whereas the national recidivism rate in the U.S. is at 60 per cent, for former Dismas residents, it has been significantly lower.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- Last fall, Dwain Adkins was about to be released from prison after serving a six-year sentence for aggravated assault. He had no family to return to on the outside and had not been accepted into a halfway house.

"My biggest fear was being homeless," he said. "It was hard for me to fathom that. It tore me up."

Finally, one week before his release, Adkins got word from Dismas House in Nashville that he would have a place to stay.   

For full story, visit the Catholic News Service website.

Jesuit Scholastic speaks at Vancouver Catholic forum

What does Pope Francis expect from us?

Pope Francis waves as he leaves his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 27. CNS photo / Paul Haring.

Corpus Christi College instructor and Jesuit scholastic John O'Brien will discuss the topic "What does Pope Francis expect from us?" at a forum on Tuesday, June 4. At the end of the presentation, O'Brien will answer questions from the audience.

"I expect a very interesting presentation from O'Brien," said Paul Ungar, the forum organizer. 

The forum will start at 7 p.m. at St. Mary's Church, 5251 Joyce St., Vancouver; attendance by donation.

More information here.