Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
Michael is Associate Editor of The Catholic Register.
He is an award-winning writer and photographer and holds a Master of Arts degree from New York University.
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December 11, 2009
Red tape cut on generic AIDS drugs
{mosimage}Adding Canadian-made generic drugs to the mix of affordable HIV and AIDS treatments could be good news for Africa, but it鱿鱼视频app probably not enough to make a serious dent in the disease which kills more than two million people each year, says a Canadian Jesuit who works on AIDS in Africa.
鈥淚f Canadian sources are going to provide second-line generics at an affordable price 鈥 something few or no others are doing 鈥 it would be a reason for hope in Africa,鈥 Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, executive director of the , told The Catholic Register in an e-mail, adding, however, that 鈥淯niversal access to antiretrovirals (ARVs) is still a distant dream.鈥
鈥淚f Canadian sources are going to provide second-line generics at an affordable price 鈥 something few or no others are doing 鈥 it would be a reason for hope in Africa,鈥 Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, executive director of the , told The Catholic Register in an e-mail, adding, however, that 鈥淯niversal access to antiretrovirals (ARVs) is still a distant dream.鈥
Published in
Features
January 25, 2010
Catholic groups make promise to sponsor world refugees
{mosimage}At a retreat centre just east of Toronto, a promise has been made on behalf of Canadian Catholics to the 10.5 million refugees around the world. At the first ever National Catholic Conference on Refugee Sponsorship, Jan. 13-15, 80 representatives of dioceses from Prince George, B.C. to Cornerbrook, Nfld., promised that the world鱿鱼视频app refugees would no longer be just more misery on the evening news.
From now on, refugees will matter to Catholic parishes and religious orders, and Catholic communities will sponsor refugees in greater numbers.
Immigration and Muliculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has already taken Catholic refugee workers at their word, increasing the target for Iraqi refugees sponsored out of Damascus, Syria from 1,300 to 2,500 this year.
From now on, refugees will matter to Catholic parishes and religious orders, and Catholic communities will sponsor refugees in greater numbers.
Immigration and Muliculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has already taken Catholic refugee workers at their word, increasing the target for Iraqi refugees sponsored out of Damascus, Syria from 1,300 to 2,500 this year.
Published in
Features
January 15, 2010
Admiration for Bishop Nguyen crosses all borders
{mosimage}TORONTO - Beginning about 5 p.m. Jan. 13 it was correct to address Fr. Vincent Nguyen as 鈥測our grace,鈥 the customary address for bishops in the Catholic Church. But it is not incorrect to call the 43-year-old auxiliary bishop of Toronto 鈥渁nh.鈥
In Vietnamese 鈥渁nh鈥 means 鈥渆lder brother.鈥 In any Vietnamese family the relationship of love, responsibility and authority between younger and elder siblings is never forgotten. In a family of faith, we are bound by the same obligations, said Nguyen.
In Vietnamese 鈥渁nh鈥 means 鈥渆lder brother.鈥 In any Vietnamese family the relationship of love, responsibility and authority between younger and elder siblings is never forgotten. In a family of faith, we are bound by the same obligations, said Nguyen.
Published in
Features
January 15, 2010
Bishop Nguyen ordained a bishop for all
{mosimage}TORONTO - Bishop Vincent Nguyen has slipped on the ring, donned his mitre, taken hold of his staff and become a shepherd in the church he loves with all his heart.
Tears flowed in the pews occupied by Nguyen's family 鈥 eight siblings, six of whom flew in from their Vietnamese homeland 鈥 and friends at St. Michael's Cathedral Jan. 13 as Nguyen was ordained Canada's first non-white bishop.
Tears flowed in the pews occupied by Nguyen's family 鈥 eight siblings, six of whom flew in from their Vietnamese homeland 鈥 and friends at St. Michael's Cathedral Jan. 13 as Nguyen was ordained Canada's first non-white bishop.
Published in
Features
February 19, 2010
The ugly truth of Canada's First Nations teen suicide
{mosimage}Stretched thinner and thinner across Canada鱿鱼视频app North, the church is losing touch with First Nations communities as First Nations communities lose touch with hope. Another wave of teen suicides in the James Bay region has left church leaders wondering how they can offer hope to young aboriginals when they have so little contact with them.
鈥淚t used to be that the churches had a real big involvement in the communities,鈥 said Bishop Vincent Cadieux, bishop of the Moosonee and Hearst dioceses. 鈥淭hat鱿鱼视频app less and less now.鈥
鈥淚t used to be that the churches had a real big involvement in the communities,鈥 said Bishop Vincent Cadieux, bishop of the Moosonee and Hearst dioceses. 鈥淭hat鱿鱼视频app less and less now.鈥
Published in
Features
March 19, 2010
Rich, educated not necessarily less active in religion
{mosimage}TORONTO - A good education and a good job are no barrier to believing in a personal God, according to a University of Toronto sociologist.
But the American-born professor also warns that a close association between conservative, reactionary politics and religion is driving better educated Americans away from church, what Scott Schieman calls 鈥渢he Sarah Palin effect.鈥
But the American-born professor also warns that a close association between conservative, reactionary politics and religion is driving better educated Americans away from church, what Scott Schieman calls 鈥渢he Sarah Palin effect.鈥
Published in
Features
April 26, 2010
Youth voice needed in social justice reforms
TORONTO - A Newman Centre evening aimed at revitalizing Catholic social justice work in downtown Toronto got people talking mainly about who wasn鈥檛 there.
The April 19 gathering of about 60 people for Mass, potluck dinner and discussion was supposed to draw young people, but couldn鈥檛 compete with exams, the start of summer jobs, moving dates and all the other commitments students face in the spring.
When Jesuit Father Jack Costello looked out at the grey-haired crowd in the Newman Centre chapel he said he would have to adjust his homily to fit an older crowd than he had expected.
The April 19 gathering of about 60 people for Mass, potluck dinner and discussion was supposed to draw young people, but couldn鈥檛 compete with exams, the start of summer jobs, moving dates and all the other commitments students face in the spring.
When Jesuit Father Jack Costello looked out at the grey-haired crowd in the Newman Centre chapel he said he would have to adjust his homily to fit an older crowd than he had expected.
Published in
Youth Speak News
October 24, 2006
GTA students to get Holocaust lesson
TORONTO - There aren鈥檛 many Holocaust survivors left, but Catholic schools throughout the Greater Toronto Area are making sure as many of their students as possible have the chance to meet people who lived through the genocide.
Published in
Youth Speak News
October 2, 2009
Kids understand message of We Day
{mosimage}MARKHAM, Ont. - When Louise Kent sang to about 300 St. Monica Catholic Elementary School pupils that 鈥渢he power of youth is the power of truth,鈥 the kids were paying attention.
鈥淲e should help them (the poor),鈥 said Grade 7 student Katherine Paulino at the end of Kent鱿鱼视频app two-hour preview of We Day. 鈥淭hey say it all the time, but we should really help them.鈥
鈥淵ou鈥檙e helping to start a group in Grade 7, a whole group helping the world. But it could be everyone,鈥 said student Ren茅e Lam.
鈥淲hen I grow up, I want to help the poor,鈥 said Ivana Anderson.
鈥淲e should help them (the poor),鈥 said Grade 7 student Katherine Paulino at the end of Kent鱿鱼视频app two-hour preview of We Day. 鈥淭hey say it all the time, but we should really help them.鈥
鈥淵ou鈥檙e helping to start a group in Grade 7, a whole group helping the world. But it could be everyone,鈥 said student Ren茅e Lam.
鈥淲hen I grow up, I want to help the poor,鈥 said Ivana Anderson.
Published in
Youth Speak News
June 25, 2010
Prom Night a rite of passage for all teens
AJAX, Ont. - There was nothing special about Jenny Lawlor鱿鱼视频app prom night. It鱿鱼视频app Lawlor who is special.
Lawlor has Down syndrome and is one of about 25 special needs students at Archbishop Denis O鈥機onnor High School in Ajax. Every year a few of the special needs kids attend the prom along with the graduating students.
The special needs students are no less a part of 900-strong student body than any one else, said principal Mary Curran. That鱿鱼视频app simple and obvious.
Lawlor has Down syndrome and is one of about 25 special needs students at Archbishop Denis O鈥機onnor High School in Ajax. Every year a few of the special needs kids attend the prom along with the graduating students.
The special needs students are no less a part of 900-strong student body than any one else, said principal Mary Curran. That鱿鱼视频app simple and obvious.
Published in
Education