The visit two weeks ago to Rome of the leading bishops of Venezuela may well have been unprecedented, a highly public visit aimed at, apparently, clarifying that the pope was on their side, and not that of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
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In this year of looking back, many on both sides of the Atlantic might think that there is nothing of great religious significance in the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, to be marked on July 1, 2017.
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The death on May 31 of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, patriarch emeritus of Kyiv, former head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), resonated in Canada where, outside of Ukraine, the largest Ukrainian Catholic community is found.
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The recent death of Cardinal Husar of Kiev, and the forthcoming beatification of the first Lithuanian martyr of the Soviet era, remind us of one of the most noble periods in Church history: the great lions of the East, the bishops who were heroic witnesses and pastors under totalitarian persecution.
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Truth-telling about history, acknowledging both lights and shadows, is always a challenge. Two temptations have to be resisted
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Three weeks ago, Justin Trudeau knelt in the Sistine Chapel before The Last Judgement, Michelangelo’s depiction of the Risen Christ returning in awesome glory to render final judgement upon the saints and the damned.
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The answers that Pope Francis gave to workers at a steel plant in Genoa, Italy, last month suggested an important distinction in the Holy Father’s economic thinking, one that addresses the increasing importance of the financial sector in the contemporary economy.
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The Six Day War, which gave the Arab-Israeli conflict and the wider Middle East its current shape, is an anniversary that is going mostly unmarked this week in the Christian world.
Read MoreOur world was significantly shaped 50 years ago this week by war in the promised land. Six days changed the Middle East; a week changed the world.
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The day before President Trump met with Pope Francis, Cardinal Peter Turkson juxtaposed the president’s speech in Saudi Arabia with what the Pope said in Egypt.
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Sixteen Muslim countries – Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen – simply forbid Israeli passport holders entry. Period.
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Reading Frank Deford’s long pieces — it really didn’t matter the subject — in Sports Illustrated as a teenager was for me an important introduction to the power of the word.
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It is puzzling why the commissioners of the TRC think an apology would be a good idea. Or, more precisely, why they think it would be a good idea again.
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In Toronto the priestly ordinations usually have a maternal character. The customary date is in May, Mary’s month, and usually falls the day before Mother’s Day, which is not a religious feast day, but certainly can be looked upon with the eyes of faith.
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I think it fair to say the gradual approach, rather than the “all-or-nothing” approach, is quite substantially the majority view in the pro-life community. That it would be so clearly stated at an event hosted by Campaign Life Coalition though is noteworthy.
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President Donald Trump visited the Western Wall this week during his visit to Israel. That was wholly unthinkable 50, 70 and 100 years ago.
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Apparently any money that a team’s owners put toward their own arena is a donation to the city’s infrastructure. Indeed. Perhaps charitable tax receipts should be issued?
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