Why do Catholics — and to be sure, other Christians, especially of the Eastern traditions, both Catholic and Orthodox — readily consider Lent to be the most spiritually fruitful time of the year?
Read More
Horsesh–. That’s what came to mind when reading reports of the recent meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (Pass), convened to discuss “biological extinction” last week. It’s not that the learned scholars were talking horse dung, but that they weren’t.
Read More
That Sunday morning 50 years ago, Vanier was too weak to attend Mass in the chapel and so he received Holy Communion in his bedroom. Madame Vanier went to Mass down the hall, and upon her return her husband died. Thus died the greatest Canadian in history.
Read More
The resignation of the lone remaining survivor of clerical abuse from Pope Francis's anti-abuse commission raises questions about the pontiff's improvisational management style. If he really can't get what he wants from the Vatican bureaucracy, is it maybe time to try a different way of getting it?
Read More
Five hundred years later, in Cardus’ little patch of the vineyard, Catholics and Reformed work together daily, not in a spirit of mere toleration, but of genuine flourishing. So how will we think about the Reformation this year, as we head toward Reformation Day on October 31st, five centuries after Luther published, as it were, his 95 Theses?
Read More
In practice though, the carbon tax will change carbon consumption decisions only if set at the right level. If the cost of reducing carbon emissions is, say, $45/tonne for a particular producer, then Alberta’s carbon tax will have no effect on its energy consumption.
Read More
I have a special affection for the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s. I was ordained a deacon there in 2001, and always stop to offer a prayer of thanksgiving whenever I am in Rome. So it was a blessing to be able to offer the Holy Mass in St. Peter’s this past Feb. 22.
Read More
The news that Michael Novak had died Feb. 17 at age 83 was properly an occasion for celebrating his massively influential scholarship and writing. He lived a large life, and his even larger heart meant that a great many people had a place in it.
Read More
Readers, like us writers, are perhaps getting weary from the dizzying twists and turns on divorce, remarriage and the sacraments. Alas, the latest whirl on the Amoris Laetitia carousel, provided by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, cannot be ignored.
Read More
What might a Palestinian state look like? Would it look like Jordan or Egypt? Or like Syria, Iraq, Libya or Yemen? Or Lebanon? Or like Gaza?
Read More
Cardinal Zen’s admiration for St. John Fisher is easy to understand. The Chinese communist regime will grant Catholics the ability to practice the faith freely only on the condition that they belong to a government bureau of religion, and do not acknowledge the full authority of the Holy Father.
Read More
Neither Netanyahu nor Abbas believes the other is sincere in wanting a two-state solution. Neither trusts the other to keep promises made. And on the Israeli side, there is no confidence that Abbas will be succeeded by a stable partner for peace.
Read More
When we planned our launch for the new digital Convivium at our Cardus office in Ottawa, we sought a conversation about how faith plays its part in various aspects of our common life: the arts, the press, politics and the relations between faiths themselves.
Read More
On Feb. 6, Queen Elizabeth II marked 65 years on the throne. It’s the “sapphire” jubilee, a designation which I did not know; 65th anniversaries are rare enough, but welcome as reminders that enduring fidelity is possible.
Read MoreThe drama of Super Bowl LI was the great role reversal. The Patriots – by far the best team in football for years, having finished their last five seasons in at least the semi-final game – managed to win as underdogs.
Read MoreMy first thought, upon hearing the news of the massacre at the mosque in Ste. Foy, was that there must be a special place in hell for those who kill men at prayer, all the moreso in a house of worship.
Read More
The burials began yesterday, and it was likely the first time most Canadians had ever seen Islamic funeral rites. It was an impressive witness of prayer from the Muslim congregation gathered at Montreal’s Maurice Richard hockey arena.
Read More
In many places in Canada the rhythm of prayer has been largely forgotten. Our Muslim citizens tend to forget less, and therefore remind us of that common colloquy with God. The deaths of the six men at prayer in the Quebec mosque are a more powerful reminder still.
Read More