News/Toronto-GTA
Padre Pio relics entrusted to church named in saint鱿鱼视频app honour
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
WOODBRIDGE, Ont. - A humble Franciscan from a little town in southern Italy had them singing and dancing in the aisles in Woodbridge Sept. 23. The overcapacity crowd that came out to greet three relics of St. Padre Pio and inaugurate a new church named after the 20th-century Italian saint broke out in frequent applause as Archbishop Thomas Collins baptized their new church.
Campaign launched to raise awareness of TCDSB elections
By Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register
In the lead-up to Catholic school trustee elections, a group of former trustees, teachers and parents is leading a campaign to raise awareness and encourage Catholic supporters to vote on Oct. 25.鈥淟ately, the reputation of our board has been badly tarnished in the public eye, and the Minister of Education found it necessary to place the Toronto Catholic District School Board under supervision. It is a time for healing. It is a time for change,鈥� said former principal Mary Ellen Lawless at a Sept. 26 press conference outside St. Paul's Basilica. Lawless is a member of the new group C.U.R.B., Catholics United for a Responsible Ballot.
鈥淚t is imperative that we reunite the parent, teacher, principal, priest, trustee and the total Catholic community in carrying out the aims of Catholic education and the mission of the Catholic school,鈥� Lawless said in a statement. The group urged Toronto's Catholic voters to get to know the issues and their trustee candidates as their 鈥渞ight and privilege to do so.鈥�
A new home for Padre Pio
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
The mostly Italian parish of Padre Pio in Woodbridge welcomed relics of St. Padre Pio as they inaugurated their new church Sept. 23. It was no small affair, with an overflow crowd peering in the windows from the parking lot to see Archbishop Thomas Collins baptize and anoint the new church.
Photos and commentary by Michael Swan
ShareLife bounces back to have a record year
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - It was a record year for ShareLife as total donations to the annual campaign came it at an all-time high 鈥� $14.33 million. And it was all inspired by an anonymous donor.
鈥淎 generous parishioner in the archdiocese of Toronto came forward last year and offered to match all new or increased donations up to $500,000 to ShareLife during the 2010 campaign,鈥� said Arthur Peters, executive director of ShareLife, the charitable fundraising arm of the archdiocese of Toronto.
A little piece of Don Bosco making its way to Toronto
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - On Oct. 5, St. John Bosco will be closer to Canadians than ever before 鈥� his relics will be on display at St. Benedict parish in Toronto.It鱿鱼视频app the first stop in Canada for the Don Bosco Among Us Relic Tour through 130 countries that kicked off on Jan. 31, 2009, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The tour will make its way on to Montreal Oct. 6-8 and then to Surrey, B.C., Oct. 8-10, before continuing elsewhere until 2015, the 200th anniversary of his birth in Turin, Italy.
U.S. women religious feel they are under unfair scrutiny
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - For many religious women in the United States the Vatican-appointed apostolic visitation on American sisters is an open wound, a sore point and something they would rather not talk about.Sr. Donna Markham is coming to Toronto to talk about it. The Dominican Sister will deliver the annual Dominican Family of Toronto lecture at the Oct. 15. Markham has titled her talk 鈥淢ission, Membership and the Apostolic Visitation鈥� and organizers are promoting it under the banner 鈥淲omen Religious Under Scrutiny.鈥�
Toronto Paisleyites agree with papal protest
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
TORONTO - The Toronto Free Presbyterian Church stands behind its Ulster-based brethren in protesting Pope Benedict XVI's visit to England and Scotland. The tiny Toronto church protested Pope John Paul II's visit in 2002, and would do so again if the Pope were ever to visit Canada, said Toronto Free Presbyterian Church senior pastor Larry Saunders.
"My concern, my opposition to the Pope coming as a representative of the Catholic Church is that he comes not just as a religious leader. He comes as also the head of state," said Saunders.
Jesus is alive in Toronto
By Luc Rinaldi, Catholic Register Special
TORONTO - Star-chasers and visitors to the city for the Toronto International Film Festival may have been surprised to see a parade travelling down Yonge Street Sept. 11. They were probably even more shocked to learn that the parade was in celebration of Jesus.The participants in this year鱿鱼视频app Jesus in the City Parade, a multi-denominational festival of music, dance and worship, were looking for just that reaction, and to challenge it. Though the downtown core of Toronto may feel secular, they said, the Lord is no stranger to the city.
Fr. de Souza joins Register team
By Catholic Register Staff
The Catholic Register is pleased to welcome Fr. Raymond de Souza to our stable of talented columnists.Fr. de Souza, whose debut column appears on Page 19 of this issue, has established his credentials as an accomplished journalist while writing for several publications over the past decade. He is a regular contributor to The National Post and a past Rome correspondent for the U.S.-based National Catholic Register.
Finishing touches put to Toronto abuse protocols
By Catholic Register Staff
TORONTO - Toronto鱿鱼视频app new rules for what to do when a priest or Church employee is accused of sexual misconduct will be revealed in early October.Over the summer a panel of experts, working with the archdiocese鱿鱼视频app judicial vicar Fr. Brian Clough, reviewed and revised Toronto鱿鱼视频app Church law governing sex abuse cases, bringing it in line with the latest directives from the Vatican.
Tamil refugee boy adjusting to life in Canada
By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
BRAMPTON, ONT. - Eight months after teenaged Tamil refugee Piratheeprajh Vijayarajarajan arrived in Canada he鱿鱼视频app taken on the look of a broad-shouldered young athlete 鈥� a contributor to his Brampton cricket club. But the young man is still painfully shy, unsure of his English, wary of strangers.He鱿鱼视频app grateful for the reception he鱿鱼视频app had in Canada, and hopes the 492 Tamils who recently arrived in British Columbia aboard the MV Sun Sea will have a similar opportunity to take up their lives again.