By Robert Kinghorn I never knew the lady’s real name. When I met her she said, “Just call me Chilli, that’s my street name.” Readers of this column will know her as “The woman who lives in a doorway downtown.” It has been 10 months since we first met. At that time, she gave...
Month: July 2024
An outdoors shot of Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ontario, which will celebrate 100 years of operation in 2026.
Martyrs’ Shrine prepares for next 100 years
Leading up to its 100th anniversary in 2026, Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., is launching a major fundraising campaign to ensure it another 100 years of service to pilgrims. The national shrine to the Canadian Martyrs will kick off the campaign for this vital revitalization with its inaugural Spring Gala at Bellvue Manor in Vaughan,...
Smoke billows over Jasper. Edmonton Archbishop Richard assured the community of his prayers. (Parks Canada photo)
Edmonton Archbishop assures Jasper of prayers as wildfire devastates community
With Parks Canada reporting “significant damage” in Jasper, Alta., from wildfires sweeping through the national park, Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith offered prayers on behalf of the Catholic community. “Today is indeed a very sad day and I wish to convey my sorrow, solidarity and support to the people of Jasper and the parish community of Our...
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Truth should reign supreme
Catholic Register Editorial In its April budget this year, the federal government pledged a $5-million fund to “combat residential school denialism.” At the same time, Ottawa reportedly spends more than $360 million a year to support Canadian journalism through a dizzying mix of public dollar delivery methods for the nation’s broadcast, print and digital media....
A recent Cardus study says young Catholics are twice as likely as their senior counterparts to attend religious services at least once a month. (Elijah Bautista photo)
Young adults defying secularism trend in Canadian Church
Reports of dwindling religious practice among Catholics in Canada may be more prevalent each year, but a different trend showing increased interest from young adults is giving hope for a possible resurgence of the Church in the near future. A 2022 research report from Cardus titled The Shifting Landscape of Faith in Canada revealed religious indicators among...
By Anabella and Daniel Ma Beauty is unmistakably powerful. So powerful in fact, that Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said “beauty will save the world” – a sentiment affirmed by Pope John Paul II in his Letter to Artists. It is one of the transcendentals for which God has put an undying thirst in our souls...
Flaws will be found, objections raised, and nits picked with the Sacred Covenant made between Catholic and Indigenous leaders regarding the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. But an open spirited reader of the concord made public June 21 will find a work of genuine beauty that is cause for authentic hope. Its achievement is...
Pilgrims during last year’s Camino at Our Lady of the Mountains in Whistler. The pilgrimage, like one at St. James in Abbotsford, reflects a growing trend among local Catholics to embrace rediscovered traditions and deepen their faith. (Caio Resende photo)
B.C. pilgrimages: a chance to recharge spiritual batteries and ‘be freed from our phones’
By James Risdon The pastor at Whistler’s Our Lady of the Mountains Parish, Father Andrew L’Heureux, tucks his Mass kit into his backpack every year at this time. It adds another roughly two kilograms to the load the 48-year-old priest will have to carry over the three-day, 100-kilometre pilgrimage he plans to make in late...
A child’s red dress hangs on a stake near the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School June 6, 2021. CNS photo: Jennifer Gauthier, Reuters
Voice of truth needed in forging a new Church-Indigenous relationship
Catholic Register Editorial Canada’s Catholic bishops deserve full credit for sticking with their commitment to, as Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith has framed it, walk the whole long path of Indigenous reconciliation. They have, in their wisdom, clearly adopted the approach, individually or collectively, of refraining from being drawn into responding to every jump and shout...
Fr. Chris Sherren, the chancellor of the diocese with reporter from the Charlottetown paper with various historic artifacts found during the archive project. Photo by Debra Majer
Charlottetown whipping 200 years of history into shape
The Diocese of Charlottetown has been cleaning out its closet in an effort to sort through some 200 years of history as part of an ongoing archive restoration project. Debra Majer, archivist for the Diocese of London, returned to Ontario from Prince Edward Island in late June following three weeks of sorting, filing and cataloging...