Amusements Three years ago I was asked to write about HBO’s The Young Pope, which was expected to be a sucker punch attack on the Catholic Church and the papacy. It turned out to be a startling but surreal story that sympathized with a youthful and charismatic new pontiff who planned to reverse the Church back past the liberalizations of [...]
Rory Leishman National Affairs For a striking illustration of the moral and spiritual degradation that afflicts so many ostensibly Christian universities in North America, consider the contrasting reactions to the screening of the excellent pro-life movie Unplannedat Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and King’s University College at Western University in London, Ontario. Given that both Benedictine College and King’s [...]
Editor’s Note:On Feb. 25, Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, released a statement on the introduction of Bill C-7:An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying). The Interim reprints the statement in full. The federal government has introduced new legislation expanding the eligibility criteria for euthanasia. The inaccurate term, medical assistance in dying (MAiD), is currently used to describe [...]
The British Columbia court of appeal ruled Friday that a 13-year-old girl was old enough to consent to testosterone shots despite her father’s objections that his troubled daughter had been influenced by transgender advocates and did not understand the long-term consequences of her decision. The appeal ruling released January 10 also placed the father under a “conduct order” effective until April that [...]
Editor’s Note: The term “euthanasia” in Canada, in its legal voluntary form is called “medical assistance in dying” and became legal along with assisted suicide in June 2016. The term ‘assisted suicide’ means that the individual committing suicide dies by a self-administered drug rather than a doctor-administered lethal injection. “Medical assistance in dying” and “death by legal injection” mean that a doctor [...]
The film The Two Popes stars Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Jorge Marlo Bergoglio (later Pope Frances). You don’t expect to see religion being treated with respect or insight in popular media these days. For religious people that attitude might be paranoia, though it’s helpful to recall the old maxim that you might be [...]
Alex Schadenberg criticized the federal government's consultation process and plan to expand euthanasia. The media is reporting that there have been more than 6700 medically assistance in dying (MAiD) deaths in Canada since it was legalized in June 2016. I estimate that there have been at least 13,000 euthanasia deaths and here is how I defend this estimate. First, the [...]
Both federal government and province rush consultations ahead of court-imposed March deadline Justice Minister David Lametti has long supported broadening Canada's euthanasia rules. Ottawa gave the public two weeks to provide input on how it should expand euthanasia while the Quebec provincial government scheduled just one day of consultations ahead of broadening criteria for people seeking so-called medical aid in [...]
A rookie Alberta politician is pressing forward with his private member’s conscience rights bill despite controversy and an unrelated tragedy that has inadvertently impeded the bill’s progress. United Conservative Party MLA Dan Williams says that no matter what becomes of Bill 207, he’ll keep fighting for conscience rights’ protection. “I hear that every single day, wherever I go, that this is an [...]
Phil Horgan and Christian Elia present Fr. Tony Van Hee with the Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Excellence in Public Life at the annual Catholic Civil Rights League dinner on Nov. 25th, 2019. The Catholic Civil Rights League honoured Fr. Van Hee with the Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Excellence in Public Life, presenting him with a plaque at its [...]
Andrew Lawton I’ve seen more doctors in my life than I can count, yet never once have I felt the need to see a gynecologist. And why would I? I don’t think I’m oversharing to say that I lack the parts that any respectable gynecologist would be comfortable working on. So does Jessica Yaniv, the transgender individual who has catapulted [...]
Editor’s Note: Michael Del Grande is a Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee under attack from LGBT activists and their allies. Del Grande, along with Theresa Lubinski, Garry Tanuan, and Nancy Crawford, voted Nov. 7 against adding “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the TCDSB’s code of conduct. He warned the TCDSB was heading down a “slippery slope” by adding terms that endorse [...]
Talk Turkey Josie Luetke At a recent Mass I attended, the deacon indicated in his homily that we are most like Jesus when we fight against social injustices. The examples he gave? That of students participating in the climate strike, those calling for proper preparations for natural disasters, etc. I nearly keeled over the pew right then, because I’m so [...]
Green Party candidate repudiates pro-life position October 1 Mark Vercouteren, Green Party candidate in Chatham-Kent-Leamington, stated he supported abortion after it was reported he had previously indicated he was pro-life in Campaign Life Coalition questionnaires from previous elections, including the 2018 provincial election. He said he “doesn’t remember” signing the questionnaire. Vercouteren issued a statement, “you have my word I would never [...]
Rory Leishman Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt, is a timely new book by Arthur C. Brooks that presents a compelling argument about how all people – left and right, pro-life and “pro-choice” – can best communicate their ideas to friends and fellow citizens about subjects on which they fundamentally disagree. As [...]