Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Here's an interesting story from the Holy Post discussing the fact that 1/3 of all Canadians state that they intend to go to Church this Christmas. A poster going by the handle of Whistlerskier responded with a different framing of this stat, pointing out that fully 2 in 3 Canadians didn't plan on going to Church. I wrote in response with how I viewed the issue as a Catholic priest. Do you agree with my answer? Whistlerskier Or to put it another way...." 2 in 3 Canadians don't plan on attending religious services this Christmas". Fr_ Tim Whistler: You are 100% correct. Let's also admit that of the 33% who will show up in a Church this Christmas that the majority of them are not regular church attenders. Personally I look upon such stats as both a challenge and an opportunity. A challenge in as much as it reminds me of the work of evangelization that needs to be accomplished by all serious Christians throughout the other 364 days of the year to bring peo...

Resurrection

Scientology officially recognized as a religion in U.K. after judges rule god not essential to worship | National Post

‘Bones of St Peter’ shown to public for first time since disputed relics were discovered in the 1940s | National Post

C.S. Lewis: No mere Christian | National Post

Sylvia & Michael MacEachern Gentle Reader: Below, I offer as exhibit #1 of what I am speaking about as regards the malice that is being encouraged on Sylvia's Site (S.S.) that is so corrosive to justice and truth.  I  said that I was going to bring my message to other forums.  To raise the alert about what had happened on the S.S. regard her  publishing that +Robert Harris (St. John, NB) had endangered the children in a Miramichi parish, when in fact he fulfilled the letter of the law perfectly and with a true pastor's touch as well. Too bad Sylvia decided to blow-up the Bishop's good works and efforts. I believed it important to challenge this calumny before it took root in the public square. I told her what I was going to do... and I did it. ( Yeah for me! Sorry. )   Here we have someone by the handle 'jg' who was one of the individuals with whom Fr. SFB and I tangled with on Sunday. He's writing in response to Sylvia's announcement that I ...

Charlie Lewis of the National Post writes in response to a column by Margaret Wente in which he takes exception this her assessment of the state of the faith in Canada. He writes: "Many people have written that the re-evangelization of the West by missionaries from the Global South is becoming more commonplace. In Canada and the United States there are, for example, a number of African priests now ministering to mainly white Catholic parishes. Canterbury has already been supplanted in terms of credibility by the more orthodox Anglican bishops in Africa and Anglicanism will become more orthodox as a result of that shift. In fact, the radical growth of orthodox Anglicanism in Africa will make Anglicanism the number two Christian faith in the world, behind Roman Catholicism, by 2050 or so. The priest in my own Catholic parish in Toronto is originally from Columbia and he considers himself a missionary to Canadians. He also spent many years in Africa, living rough and...

This story on the Holy Post has generated a great conversation in the comment threads. It may interest anyone who enjoys the 'Does God exist?' debate. Atheists can not be trusted: Religious people rank non-believers alongside rapists, study | Holy Post | National Post

Maybe there's hope for Canada yet! Moral dictatorship over abortion debate obscures range of Canadian opinion | Holy Post | National Post

In June 2010, the Crown brought in Katherine Young, a professor of religion, as an expert witness. Prof. Young said she could not see anything in the Church of the Universe that resembled ritual, sacred spaces or symbols, or helped its members deal with life’s paradoxes. The only “ scripture ” or other literature she could find was from Cannabis Culture magazine, a secular journal, and some information on a website. Crown attorney Nicholas Devlin called the religious defense “ inside joke among people who like to smoke marijuana .” Church of the Universe ministers Peter Styrsky (L) and Shahrooz Kharaghan Mr. Filipovic said Prof. Young’s definition was too specific and countered by quoting American philosopher William James: “Religion shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider divine.” Any article that includes a quote from William Jam...

Charles Lewis, religion editor of the Holy Post blog recently closed down the comment function of the blog because of a plethora of inappropriate comments. Perhaps he should post this article from the NC Register for all his readers and then pray that at least the majority of these rules might be respected. At the very least, this post is a reminder that just because people can post anonymous comments on line does not mean that they can violate the rules of civil discourse. Since I moderate comments on this blog, this is not too much of an issue. It permits me to keep 'trolls' off the blog... although they do try. (eh, Johnny?)  14 Do s and Don ts for Blog Commenting | Blogs | NCRegister.com

There's a neat email that made the rounds in recent years. I suspect it springs from the pool of urban legends that besot the virtual world, but it carries an appropriate message for idiots like Terry Jones. (I won't dignify him by calling him a 'Pastor'.) He recently burned a Koran in a public event covered by the media in Florida. From there the news spread  across the globe faster, than a rumor of some misdeed by a neighbor fires across a village's old time 'social network' system. It's set in a university lecture hall and involves a challenge that an atheist professor puts to God to 'knock him off his feet' if he actually exists. He then gives the Almighty 15 minutes to effect his punishment. As the clock ticks by & the lecture continues, he glances at his watch and reminds God that his time is running out to prove that he exists. As the final few moments approach, and the professor prepares to launch into his usual boastful g...

I'm half blind today and it's almost impossible to use the computer so today I'm just cross posting to my latest column in the National Post. Where is God in the wake of all the world’s misery? | Holy Post | National Post

Some rebellion! A dozen priests out of 1600 don't like the new translation. Too bad boys. It's time to get with the program. This is not some sort of attempt to stifle the 'aggornamento' (renewal) of Vatican II. It is an expression of the sister imperative, 'resourcement' (connecting to our traditions). In other words, it simply brings the english text into closer harmony with the other languages the church uses as it better reflects the text of the original latin. Fr. Tim Australian priests rebel against new Mass | Holy Post | National Post

Beautiful inside & out! Dianne Wood, a friend of this blog and a frequent letter writer within the virtual and real pages of the National Post remarked the other day that Catholics are called to walk a 'hard road' in these times. She offered this in defense of an argument that such a journey can be successfully accomplished with faith, discipline and the grace of God. As always, she is so RIGHT ON! I wanted to let her know of my appreciation for her witness that I posted the comment below in the relevant thread on the Holy Post . I post it again here to ensure that she (and others who do the same) might find it to be of encouragement in this difficult times for those who argue in defense of the Catholic faith and Church. --------------------------- Dianne: You are so right! It is a road made hard by the sinfulness of clergy who both enabled and committed these heinous crimes. Yet we continue to believe in the truth the Church contains, soiled but not stained ...

I kind of agree and disagree with Fr. Raymond on this one. Yes, if we are speaking of the clash of cultures on an institutional level, then Christians must do everything within their power to preserve their rights and freedoms. BUT... and it's a BIG but, I still believe that anything that might lead to further escalation of the violence should be avoided. Christian militias are not the answer to Muslim extremists. (I know that Fr. Raymond didn't call for them, but it could be taken as an implied conclusion.) The Christian message of peaceful co-existence is. We must demand that countries where these crimes are taking place prosecute the offenders to the full extent of the law. The days when faith was a reason for killing others should be relegated to the distant past in every corner of the globe. Fr. Tim Father Raymond J. de Souza: Christians may need to start fighting back | Holy Post | National Post

John Allen offers a comparison of assessments of the Church's handling of the sex abuse scandal between Pope B16 and Fr. Thomas Doyle - the Vatican priest who deals with the victims and their lawyers. I fear that Fr. Doyle has a point - one that I've written about here many times: the principal scandal is that children have been sexually abused by clerics, and then abused by the hierarchy's response to their allegations. Essentially, the Church is on fire. The faith of generations is turning to ash in front of our eyes as neglect and a perceived ongoing disrespect for victims rights (with the aim of 'preventing scandal' that would 'damage the faith' - a worthy end but morally fatally flawed means). I acknowledge that the fires have burned down in North America as Bishops are finally beginning to understand the moral carnage their predecessors have wrecked upon the Church and the faithful. Generations of savings from Catholics have been sacrificed thanks...

An excellent counter argument to my 'grumpy atheists' column. My thanks to 'Rationalist1' (a poster on the Holy Post and definitely not a 'grump'!!) for the link! Why Religious People Are Scared of Atheists | | AlterNet

Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring  themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death  that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...

Charlie Lewis of the Holy Post has offered another opinion piece on the relationship between atheists and believers. You can read it here . Among the numerous comments that have been generated, Charlie responds to one poster in a manner that succinctly brings a light to the reason why we believers demand that our voices be heard in the public square. I share it in the hopes that it might generate a discussion here on his assessment. A thoughtful reader wrote that atheists would stop getting angry at religious people when we "stopping trying to cram things down his throat." I took the time to respond to him even though I'm pretty certain nothing would ever change his mind. Here's what I wrote: "Please take the time to read what I'm writing to you. And then tell me what you think. Your idea is that religious people are trying to jam views down your throat. Who are these people? I know they're not most mainstream Protestants and not Catholics...