I want to tell you a story about a church catching fire. Over 20 years ago, a parish church in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale caught fire and burned down. Holy Family had stood for over ninety years, but by the time the fire was put out nothing was left but the walls. This might have been the end of the story [...]
On April 11 2019, something quite unexpected occurred. After six years of near-total silence, pope emeritus Benedict XVI, published “The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse,” an essay which offers an important supplement to the discourse about what the retired pontiff calls, at the outset, “the current crisis of the faith and of the Church; a crisis experienced throughout the world [...]
Laying Down the Lawton Andrew Lawton "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Those oft-cited, immortal words from the Book of Matthew are in many cases used to extol the virtues of small groups for Christians. They took on a fundamentally different meaning for me as I watched [...]
Julia Alphonso Editor’s Note:Julia Alphonso of Father McGivney Catholic Academy, Markham, Ontariowon first prize in the Fr. Ted Essay contest sponsored by Niagara Region Right to Life. The contest asked participants to reflect on the statement:. You are a child in the prenatal stage of development. Are all the current biomedical/technological breakthroughs helpful in advancing your right to life as [...]
Izaak Falk Editor’s Note:Izaak Falk of Cornerstone Christian School, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewanwon second prize in the Fr. Ted Essay contest sponsored by Niagara Region Right to Life. The contest asked participants to reflect on the statement:. You are a child in the prenatal stage of development. Are all the current biomedical/technological breakthroughs helpful in advancing your right to life as [...]
by Abby Johnson, with Cindy Lambert. (Ignatius Press, 2014, $20.99, 320 pages) Although this book is a few years old, it is appropriate to review it at this time since the movie has been released in the U.S. to large crowds, debate, and interest. The book (and movie) describes Abby Johnson’s journey from pro-choice to pro-life with many conflicts interwoven [...]
Actress Ashley Bratcher played Abby Johnson in Unplanned. The new film about pro-life activist Abby Johnson’s conversion story has already made a tremendous impact on women contemplating abortion in the real world, according to the actress who portrays Johnson. Unplannedtells the real-life story of Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood abortion facility director who converted to the pro-life cause in 2009. [...]
Jason Kenney In 2015, the Alberta NDP under Rachel Notley surprised the province and the country when it won a majority of seats in the Alberta election, mostly because the right-of-center voter was divided between the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties. After the Conservative Party of Canada lost the federal election five months later, former immigration minister Jason Kenney turned [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Jason Kenney, Alberta’s new Premier, stated on election night that “parents know better than politicians what is best for their kids.” His United Conservative Party platform repeatedly referred to “Alberta’s successful tradition of school choice” and “the primary role of parents in choosing how their children are taught.” The UCP platform promises to repeal Bill 24, [...]
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said "reproductive and sexual health rights" was a redline preventing the US from supporting a UN resolution opposed to sexual violence against women. The headlines suggested that Donald Trump opposed an anti-rape resolution brought before the Security Council by Germany last month. The Washington Post’s read, “The UN wanted to end sexual violence in [...]
The Day of Infamy and Canada’s enduring shame The first National March for Life in Ottawa in 1998 was organized around the theme, “a day of infamy,” as it marked the day that abortion-on-demand became legal in Canada. About 700 people attended to bear witness against the injustice of abortion unleashed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Omnibus Bill passed on [...]
Dr. Ellen van der Hoeven Dr. Ellen van der Hoeven, passed away at the age of 89 at Kingston General Hospital on March 1, 2019, after a brief illness. Ellen was born in England but raised in Dublin Ireland where she completed her primary degree in medicine at University College Dublin. She immigrated to Canada and met and married military [...]
Claire Mackness - third prize winner of the Father Ted Essay contest Editor’s Note: Claire Mackness of St. Thomas More High School, Hamilton, Ontariowon third prize in the Fr. Ted Essay contest sponsored by Niagara Right to Life. The contest asked participants to reflect on the statement: You are a child in the prenatal stage of development. Are all the [...]
Canada LifeSiteNews has launched a petition to mark 2019 World Down Syndrome Day, to request that the United Nations help stop the abortion of Down syndrome babies. LifeSiteNews notes that 92 per cent of Down syndrome babies are aborted in the U.S., 98 per cent are aborted in Denmark and almost 100 per cent are aborted in Iceland. The comparable number in [...]
The Canadian euthanasia/assisted suicide (euphemistically known as Medical Aid in Dying or MAiD) data have been missing. I have received multiple inquiries asking how many Canadians have died by MAiD. Now we have some data, but not from the government. On March 15, Jocelyn Downie, Canada’s leading “academic” pro-euthanasia activist, spoke at a lunch lecture for the Royal Society of Canada in [...]