In 2003, the U.S. Army’s Guantanamo Bay facility received a 16-year-old boy, Omar Khadr. Omar would become Gitmo’s youngest prisoner. Born in Toronto, Ontario, he had been captured by U.S. special forces in 2002; U.S. military believe he was responsible for the death of a U.S. service member during a brutal, four-hour firefight. Mr. Khadr […]
Canada
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Canadian bishops grapple with legal euthanasia and funerals
Catholic bishops there are grappling with a difficult question: Should those who end their lives with the assistance of medication be given a Catholic funeral?
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Canadian bishops: Abortion should not be ‘core’ of foreign policy
The bishops criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for committing $650 million to support abortion funding overseas when only $119.25 million was pledged to help 20 million who risk starvation in South Sudan, Yemen, eastern Nigeria and Somalia.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Frustrations are hard to hide at a vigil for the homeless in Toronto
Every month a group gathers at Holy Trinity Church to hold a vigil for those who have died homeless in Toronto.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Canadian cardinal spent 9 years in a Colombian war zone. Now he serves a new periphery.
Pope Francis encouraged Cardinal Lacroix and the bishops from Quebec to be a missionary church, “a church that goes out, reaches out to people.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
What Pope Francis’ apology would mean for Canada’s indigenous people
As an indigenous person who works for the Catholic Church, I have pondered the value of an apology to the former students of the residential schools.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Canadian bishops urge response to Africa/Yemen hunger and violence
United Nations sources report that as many as 30 million are threatened by hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen—and 20 million “are at immediate risk.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Stepping out of U.S. shadow, Canadian peacebuilders offer North American alternative
In neighboring Canada, a dedicated network of Catholic peacemakers has been hard at work building a movement for nonviolence.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Canadian Catholic killed in London Bridge attack inspires charitable gifts
The death of a young Canadian Catholic woman during the London Bridge attack has inspired people to help save lives in their own community.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Why indigenous leaders and Canadian Catholics still want an apology from Pope Francis
Prime Minister Trudeau wants the Vatican to address the legacy of Catholic-run residential schools where indigenous children suffered abuse.