Adaptability is the name of the game for the Diocese of Calgary and the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) during the ongoing state of emergency sparked by a rupture in the city’s water main on June 5 and the discovery ten days later of five additional hot spots requiring repair. Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions...
Month: June 2024
Harvest Ministries declines $100,000 settlement offer, hoping for Charter violation ruling
A lawsuit launched last August against the Quebec government by pastor Art Lucier and Harvest Ministries International (HMI) was, according to their lawyer, never about the money. HMI left a $100,000 settlement offer on the table and has opted for a moral rather than a purely monetary victory in its case which claims the organization’s...
Invaluable Group of Seven works lost in church blaze
The only church to feature artwork by members of the famed Group of Seven Canadian artists burned to the ground, taking with it the stunning murals on its walls and dome. St. Anne’s Anglican Church in downtown Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood was destroyed by a Sunday morning fire June 9. Fire officials are investigating how...
Date night focuses on role of God in marriage
At a diocesan Encounter date night for married and engaged couples, speakers Daniel and Rita Taylor shared what they have learned over eight years of marriage about “learning to let God lead.” Daniel is a personal trainer presently working in the oil and gas industry in Northern Alberta. Rita is the founder of Fully Integrated Ministries,...
Redemptorist Brehl named new Bishop of Pembroke
Fr. Michael Brehl, leader of the Canadian Redemptorists, has been named new bishop for the Diocese of Pembroke. The Toronto-born, 69-year-old Brehl will assume the seat at the head of the Ontario diocese vacated by Bishop Guy Desrochers when he was named Archbishop of Moncton in July 2023. Bishop-elect Brehl brings a wealth of leadership...
Parishes gather for Saskatchewan pilgrimage
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski An annual pilgrimage to the church and shrine at Blumenfeld, SK was held Sunday, June 9, marking the start of prairie pilgrimage season in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. Information about summer pilgrimages: LINK Pilgrimage highlights include the blessing of the graves in the church cemetery; praying of the Rosary...
Archdiocese and Kamloops First Nation release Sacred Covenant on Indigenous Peoples Day
The Sacred Covenant signed on Easter Sunday by the Archdiocese of Vancouver and Kamloops First Nation was made public on Friday, National Indigenous Peoples Day. In a statement, the Archdiocese and the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc said the date was chosen to share the document in English and Chinook, “an important common language among First Peoples and settlers...
Frontier evangelism, serving the poor, and going where no one else will go: The future and legacy of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate
By Jenny Connelly Missionary zeal and closeness to the poor remain as the burning heart of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the order of priests and brothers who founded the Archdiocese of Edmonton and were essential to the evangelization of the Canadian West. Recently, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Lacombe Canada gathered in St. Albert for their...
Quebec March for Life weathers the storm
Neither a smoke bomb, shrieking foes, nor police warnings kept pro-life Quebecers from taking to Quebec City streets June 1 for what organizers hope will become an annual March for Life. About 1200 counter-protestors, including provincial Minister for the status of Women Martine Biron, outnumbered the 1000 or so pro-lifers, who were told by police...
I hadn’t expected Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič to be as forthright as he was. He described the shock of arriving in Canada during the residential school crisis and finding flags at half-mast for months and irresponsible statements being made. My interview with Canada’s Apostolic nuncio appears here. For him, the key to preventing what we’ve seen...