Pro-life supporters march in this year’s March for Life in Ottawa. (Peter Stockland photo)
Thousands of pro-lifers packed onto Parliament Hill and spilled out onto Wellington Street May 9 for the 27th annual National March for Life. The crowd gathered on the Hill at noon with its members bearing both homemade and professionally crafted signs pledging to stand fast for the unborn and vulnerable. The march’s theme “I will never...
When Canada’s Ukrainian bishops sent out their Easter greetings letter this year, they dated it Easter, March 31. They also dated it Easter, May 5. The dual dates reflect the two different ways Ukrainians celebrate Easter. Some follow the Gregorian calendar that we do. Others, particularly Eastern and Orthodox Christians, use the Julian calendar. If...
Parishioners pray before the pilgrim Our Lady of Fatima statue at St. James Church in Abbotsford. The World Apostolate of Fatima wants to revive devotion to Our Lady of Fatima in Canada. (Paul Schratz photo)
For Ethelyn David, Catholic event organizing seems to be second nature. From Marian conferences to parish missions, she has been promoting and coordinating celebrations of faith and devotion across the Archdiocese of Vancouver through her Mediatrix Conferences organization. But she hadn’t intended to be front and centre in Our Lady of Fatima’s visit to Vancouver....
Former Kamloops Chief Manny Jules presents Archbishop Miller with a stole marked with symbols Tk’emlúps historical events. On Easter Sunday, Archbishop Miller and Kamloops Bishop Joseph Nguyen signed a Sacred Covenant with the Kamloops First Nation to forge a new relationship between the Church and Indigenous peoples in British Columbia. (Matthew Furtado/Archdiocese of Vancouver)
The journey to the Easter Sunday signing in Kamloops of a sacred covenant between the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops First Nation) and Catholic bishops from Vancouver and Kamloops took several years, and it was the efforts of two men that began the process, say Kamloops Chief Rosanne Casimir and Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller. Both...
Undated photo of Father Jean-Marie-Raphael Le Jeune’s grave at the Oblate Cemetery in Mission. The Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Kamloops Indian band discovered a mutual respect for Father Le Jeune, which will be acknowledged on Easter Sunday at a reconciliation event in Kamloops. (B.C. Catholic Archives)
Almost three years ago, reports of underground anomalies near a former Kamloops residential school caused a firestorm of media mistruths about mass graves, which became a focus of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada in 2022. Now, the Church and the Kamloops First Nation are about to acknowledge historical and recent painful experiences and continue “walking...
The St. Raphael Palliative Care Home and Day Centre in Montreal. The Archbishop of Montreal has launched a legal appeal of Quebec’s end-of-life law that forces palliative care hospices to offer “Medical Assistance in Dying.” (Google Street View image)
In what could prove to be a landmark case for religious and conscience rights in Canada, Montreal’s Archbishop Christian Lépine has taken on the Attorney General of Quebec. In an appeal for judicial review submitted to the Quebec Superior Court on Feb. 5, Archbishop Lépine asked for an immediate stay of the application of an...
Young people use mobile devices in isolation from each other at a mall. In their pastoral letter on social media, the Canadian bishops suggest fasting from screens once a week and taking a “Technology Sabbath.” (Paul Schratz photo)
Catholic institutions and media outlets must hold themselves to the highest standards, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a Jan. 24 pastoral letter that focuses on social media. As a communication tool, social media has great potential to “serve a fundamental human good: the building of bridges among people by the sharing of...
Father Deacon Andrew Bennett addresses a fundraising breakfast for Catholic Pacific College in December. “Increasingly young adults see what the world is offering them, and they realize it’s not what they want,” he said. (Paul Schratz photos)
When it comes to supporting Catholic education, the audience that came to hear Father Deacon Andrew Bennett’s fundraising talk for Catholic Pacific College was as committed as it gets. By the time he had finished, however, they were not only aware of how much Canada needs inspired Catholic young people, but they could also see...
Canada’s bishops have reaffirmed that they “unanimously and unequivocally oppose the performance of either euthanasia or assisted suicide (MAiD) within health organizations with a Catholic identity.” Alberto Biscalchin/Flickr
There is no place for euthanasia or assisted suicide in Catholic hospitals, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said Thursday. In a statement released the day after the British Columbia government said it would take over land beside Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital for a euthanasia site, the bishops reiterated their opposition to “medical assistance in dying” in Catholic...
The B.C. government rolled out a plan Wednesday to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide at St. Paul’s Hospital – by making it available beside the hospital. The Ministry of Health announced it was taking over property beside the hospital to create a “clinical space” where St. Paul’s patients requesting euthanasia can receive it without having...