������Ƶapp

{mosimage}TORONTO-The Newman Centre will be launching a new initiative to assist its chaplaincy outreach to students at the University of Toronto.

Fr. Michael Machacek, pastor and executive director of the Newman Centre parish and chaplaincy at the university������Ƶapp downtown campus, said the new initiative will address the chaplaincy needs of the Monday-to-Friday commuter students and provide more programs and activities during the daytime such as faith-sharing and socials.

There are also plans to raise the Newman Centre������Ƶapp profile within the university and get the word out about its student outreach, he said.

Plans for the new initiative will be unveiled at the April 13 annual Newman Foundation fundraising dinner. The event, called “Getting to Know Newman,” will feature a personal tour of the centre and information about its outreach and spiritual programs.

{mosimage}TORONTO-While Salvadoreans took the week of March 22-28 to reflect and honour the life of a hero and martyr, so too do they continue to wonder if they will ever see an example like his ever again.

Thirty years ago, Toronto area resident Rodolfo Molina witnessed firsthand the murder of San Salvador������Ƶapp most revered Catholic, Archbishop Oscar Romero. Molina, among the congregation of Mass-goers in San Salvador, watched Romero fall to the ground as he was celebrating communion, shot dead by an assassin March 24, 1980.

Romero was known and widely respected by Salvadoreans for openly speaking out against the terrorizing and oppressive regime that ruled El Salvador. For many Latino Catholics, he was also someone who brought the Gospels to life in the context of social justice and relevance to political issues of the day.

“Many of us here knew him personally, and lived that terrible experience (of seeing him killed),” said Molina, in Spanish. “But why do we love him so much? First of all because never had we encountered an archbishop for whom peace was so clear in his messages and who was also accessible to the people.”

{mosimage}TORONTO-The Toronto Catholic District School Board is embracing social media and looking to the future of Catholic education in Canada������Ƶapp largest public Catholic board, says education director Ann Perron.

Perron said the board is embracing technology with the webcasts she initiated and the board launched when she first started last year. This could expand further as the board looks at incorporating more social media in schools, including a possible Facebook page for the board, but plans haven’t been finalized yet.

The webcasts are YouTube postings of Perron informing the Toronto Catholic education community about the latest happenings at the board, including the celebration of different communities each month, such as Celtic heritage month in March and Asian heritage month in April. YouTube is a forum that can be easily accessed by parents and students, Perron said.

{mosimage}TORONTO-The glaring media spotlight, public scrutiny and even attacks on the Catholic Church over recent abuse allegations presents a time of great challenge but also an opportunity to refocus on our baptismal call to live out the Gospel teachings, says Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins.

The archbishop has found himself addressing the matter frequently over recent days, with media and those in the pews, as allegations continue to swirl around a sex abuse scandal and cover-up by some clergy in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Brazil and the United States.

“Throughout the world, (some) priests have done unspeakable evil. We should be grateful for the attention that the media is devoting to the sins of Catholic clergy, even if constant repetition may give it the false impression that Catholic clergy are particularly sinful,” Collins told a crowd of more than 400 people at St. Michael������Ƶapp Cathedral March 30 at the annual Chrism Mass.

{mosimage}TORONTO - After an airport delay caused by suspicion and confusion that he was going to a “gang conference,” American priest Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., joined a group of speakers March 24 in Toronto at the 2010 Canada-U.S. Gang Summit.

The summit, sponsored by Hincks-Dellcrest Centre and Astwood Strategy Corporations, brought together North America������Ƶapp top gang experts to share their knowledge and experiences in street gang prevention, reduction, intervention and re-integration.

{mosimage}TORONTO - It must be the luck of the Irish. In March, just before St. Patrick������Ƶapp Day, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty rewarded the persistence of the O’Connor Irish Heritage House������Ƶapp board with a gift of $2.1 million for its restoration of O’Connor House.

For five years, O’Connor House������Ƶapp board has been fundraising and rallying support to save a Catholic philanthropist������Ƶapp stately old home on the grounds of Senator O’Connor College School.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Leslie Gimpes, a student at Mississauga������Ƶapp St. Joseph Catholic High School, joined more than 75 students from three Toronto-area high schools at busy subway stops in the city March 24 to raise awareness and funds for ShareLife.

ShareLife is the archdiocese of Toronto������Ƶapp charitable fundraising arm. It supports more than 30 agencies in the archdiocese, including Covenant House Toronto, a homeless shelter for youth, Catholic Family ������Ƶapp in the Greater Toronto Area and Rosalie Hall, which helps young mothers and their children.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Fr. Michael Troy was known to the first class of Neil McNeil High School graduates as a spiritual father and well-respected leader. So much so that students called him the “Big Daddy” of Neil McNeil.

Fr. Troy, C.S.Sp., was the founding principal of the high school in 1957. He died at Edmonton������Ƶapp Royal Alexandra Hospital March 19. He was 93.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Danny Boy runs after the red ball, with his golden brown tail wagging from side to side and panting with a doggy-style grin from ear to ear.

The year-old toy poodle is a resident favourite at St. Bernard������Ƶapp Retirement Residence on Finch Avenue West run by the .

“We began to see that people, their eyes light up when they see him, especially when people are coming in the beginning because of the life they left behind,” said residence administrator Sr. Francis Bisland.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Vatican has its eyes on outer space to bridge the divide between science and religion and promote good science, said Fr. José G. Funes, S.J., director of the Vatican Observatory.

Funes was in Toronto March 16 to give the Naming the Holy lecture at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto on “The Evolving Universe.” The lecture is sponsored by the Newman Centre and the Regis College Jesuit community.