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Showing posts from August, 2013

Trudeau says he will defend Quebec's open society - Politics - CBC News

This is the first intelligent thing that Trudeau has offered since his ascension to the leadership of the Liberal Party. At least he's chosen an excellent issue to defend: the individual's right to freedom of religion. It's a lot better than his other proposed initiative to legalize pot smoking! Trudeau says he will defend Quebec's open society - Politics - CBC News
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Secularism: How the PQ have it all wrong

Secularism: How the PQ have it all wrong At the recent meeting of the youth wing of the Parti Quebecois, Mme. Pauline Marois announced her government's intention to introduce a ‘Charter of Quebec Values’ intended to enshrine into law the concepts and value around which Quebec will prosper and unite in the 21st century. Prominent among these values is ‘secularism’, a foundational principle of all Western democracies which mandates the separation of church and state. Unfortunately for all concerned, this initiative is rooted in a non-democratic and oppressive understanding of this concept which will serve to weaken the very sense of cultural and political identity that Marois is trying to stimulate. Secularism is founded upon three essential elements: a) freedom of conscience and belief, b) equality of religious choice, and c) the neutrality of public authorities in religious convictions. Nations traditionally express this in two different ways. Canada, as with most Western democra
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Cardinal Pell Offers Religious Liberty Suggestions | ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome

Here are the four basic points that Cardinal Pell notes to demonstrate what religious freedom means in practice: "1. Freedom of religion is not just freedom to go to church on Sundays or pray at home. It also means being free to act on your beliefs in the public square, to speak about them and seek to persuade others. It means not being coerced or bullied into silence by speech‐control and equality laws or by accusations of “Homophobe!” “Discrimination!” “Anti‐Choice!” or “I’m offended!” "2. Freedom of religion means being free to provide services that are consistent with the beliefs of the sponsoring religion. Neither the government nor anyone else has the right to say to religious agencies “we like your work with vulnerable women; we just need you to offer them abortion as well”; or “we really like your schools, but we can’t allow you to teach that marriage between a man and a woman is better or truer than other expressions of love and sexuality”. Our agencies are there
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What are chemical weapons and how do they work? | CTV News

With the West seemingly on the edge of a new military action in Syria, this article from the CTV New site is timely to read. If we are going to involve ourselves in a war because these horrible weapons have been used on the civilian population as a means of 'cleansing' people of one religion  from an area (as happened in the former Yugoslavian republics) it's important to understand why such weapons are banned in the first place. What are chemical weapons and how do they work? | CTV News
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This is horrible! Talk about an example of the corrosive effects of the 'culture of death'.

Every Pope from Paul VI to Francis have decried the corrosive effect that the 'culture of death' and 'imperial personal autonomy' were having on Western culture. This is just another in a horribly long line of ill effects and events that flowed from the good intentions of post-modern liberal secularism since the 1960's. People seem to be forgetting that for a society to remain health and vibrant requires a common culture rooted in charity and temperance. Such selfish and ill-spirited will as expressed by this anonymous letter writer fails to meet even the most basic of standards. What s/he wrote may not be a crime... but it such as hell is wrong. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/08/20/autistic-boy-family-receives-euthanize-letter-ontario-newscastle.html
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Pope Francis to Consecrate the World to Mary’s Immaculate Heart

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Oct. 13 as part of the Marian Day celebration that will involve the iconic statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. “The Holy Father strongly desires that the Marian Day may have present, as a special sign, one of the most significant Marian icons for Christians throughout the world, and, for that reason, we thought of the beloved original statue of Our Lady of Fatima,” wrote Cardinal Rino Fisichella. Cardinal Fisichella, who serves as president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, made his remarks in a letter to Bishop Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima. According to the Portuguese shrine’s  website , the statue of Our Lady of Fatima will leave for Rome on the morning of Oct. 12 and return on the afternoon of Oct. 13. The statue normally resides in the shrine’s Little Chapel of Apparitions. Read more: click on the link below http://www.ncregi
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Judge tells couple they can't name their son 'Messiah'

If Latinos can call their kids Jesus and Muslims theirs Muhammad, what legal basis exists that could justify this court decision? It seems patented silly. In poor taste but just silly nonetheless. Yet in Québec the government presumes the same right to tell parents what they can (or better said cannot) name their children for years. What do you think? Should the government have the right to control the names parents choose for their children? Feel free to comment with your opinions. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/13/name-messiah-would-offend-judge-says/
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'Where the rubber hits the road' is hitting the road in September! New Pastoral Assignments announced for the Pembroke Diocese

Bishop Michael Mulhall, Bishop of Pembroke announced on Monday that I'm being transferred from my current assignment as pastor of St. Anne's Parish in Mattawa, Ontario to take up the same position on the Quebec side of the Diocese... in Chapeau (St. Alphonsus), Sheenboro (St. Paul the Hermit), and St. Joseph's (St. Joseph's) effective September 12th, 2013. This will be a bit of a home coming for me as I have twice before served in Chapeau (as both assistant and pastor) and already love the people and place. I look forward to renewing many old acquaintances there just as I do with those good folk I know from Sheen and St. Joseph's. Moving is the reality of life for all parish priests and this is far from St. Anne's Church - Mattawa being the first time I've changed parishes over the past 25 years. Still as much as I look forward to returning to the Upper Pontiac, it is always sad to say good-bye to a place such as Mattawa. Typical of communities in
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