For 122 years, the monks who called the Cistercian-Trappist Monastery of Our Lady of Calvary in Rogersville, N.B., home bonded over their devotion to God and a love of agriculture. The Cistercian monks arrived in 1902 at the invitation of local parish priest Fr. Marcel‑François Richard, who wanted to provide refuge for the brothers from...
Category: News
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition granted intervenor status in assisted death case
The Court of Appeal of Alberta has granted the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) intervenor status in the controversial case of a 27-year-old Calgary woman with autism seeking approval for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) against her father’s wishes. On May 17, the non-profit that opposes assisted suicide submitted a five-page application to intervene containing legal...
Muslim family who worked in Gaza with Mother Teresa’s sisters now long for safety in Canada
By James Risdon Amal Khames illustrates the complex religious and cultural reality of the war-torn Holy Land. A Muslim woman, she worked with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in the Gaza Strip. Now, she is trying to rebuild her life in Port Coquitlam while helping her sisters, who remain stranded in Egypt after fleeing the...
Toronto palliative care forum seeks a ‘narrative of hope’
Amplifying advocacy and pastoral care efforts, bolstering educational resources and championing life-affirming legislation are among the recommendations emerging from an international interfaith symposium on palliative care staged in Toronto late last month. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) bestowed health care, medicine, ethics, legal and pastoral care...
Victoria Catholic picks up support while showing solidarity for Israel
Sometimes, a free afternoon is all you need to start a counter-protest. Catholic pro-life organizer and retired journalist Steven Weatherbe was visiting Vancouver with his wife, who was attending a conference. He was at a loss for what to do with his afternoon, and then he saw a pro-Palestinian rally forming at the Vancouver Art...
Toronto denied hard drug decriminalization
As British Columbia throws in the towel on its experiment of decriminalizing hard drugs, admitting defeat in liberalizing its drug laws, the country’s largest city has had its desire to ignore B.C.s evidence and move down the same path quashed by the federal government. On May 17, the federal government rejected a request from Toronto’s...
Truth, media, and good governance – moving toward and respecting the truth
By Catholic Conscience On May 12, Pope Francis marked the 58th World Day of Social Communications by saying a world increasingly permeated by artificial intelligence must never lose sight of the “wisdom of the heart.” The following essay from Catholic Conscience makes the point that communication also depends on truth, a point increasingly being lost in today’s...
Former National Chief and retired Archbishop share insights into their journey of reconciliation
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski A former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a former President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke together in Saskatoon April 18, reflecting on their part in the history of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, as well as their personal journey in becoming adopted brothers. Former...
No accounting for residential school burial sites’ funding
A planned National Gathering on missing Indigenous children and unmarked graves has been abruptly postponed, days before it was reported that there is no public accounting for the millions of dollars that the federal government has sent to the Kamloops First Nation to investigate residential school burial sites. Meanwhile, the final report from the Office...
Canadian pro-lifers lose standard bearer to cancer at 41
On May 9, as thousands of Canadians once again gathered on Parliament Hill for the annual March for Life, Canada’s pro-life movement lost one of its greatest champions. Albertos Polizogopoulos, a dear husband to Faye Sonier, father of two, and a friend of many, passed away at the age of 41 after being diagnosed with...