Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
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November 6, 2009
El Salvador martyrs' struggle lives on
{mosimage}A generation ago the martyrs of El Salvador galvanized Catholics and today Canadian Catholics claim those martyrs as part of their spiritual heritage.
On Nov. 16 the church marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits who lived and taught at the University of Central America in San Salvador. They were killed along with their housekeeper and her daughter because they argued that the vast gulf between rich and poor in El Salvador, a country just slightly larger than the Greater Toronto Area, was feeding the civil war that had by then killed more than 70,000.
Next year will be the 30th anniversary for martyrs who first brought world attention on El Salvador鱿鱼视频app ugly war. March 24 is the anniversary of Archbishop Oscar Romero鱿鱼视频app 1980 assassination. Romero was killed by an army death squad a day after he broadcast a sermon calling on police and soldiers not to carry out orders that amounted to repression and violations of human rights. Dec. 2 it will be 30 years since four American church women 鈥 three Catholic nuns and a laywoman who worked in poor villages in the Salvadoran countryside 鈥 were raped and murdered near the San Salvador airport.
El Salvador鱿鱼视频app war officially ended in 1992, and the Cold War logic that justified U.S. military aid propping up a corrupt, anticommunist government is fast-fading history. But the memory of those martyrs still matters, said Mary Jo Leddy, one of the founders of Romero House for refugees in Toronto.
On Nov. 16 the church marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits who lived and taught at the University of Central America in San Salvador. They were killed along with their housekeeper and her daughter because they argued that the vast gulf between rich and poor in El Salvador, a country just slightly larger than the Greater Toronto Area, was feeding the civil war that had by then killed more than 70,000.
Next year will be the 30th anniversary for martyrs who first brought world attention on El Salvador鱿鱼视频app ugly war. March 24 is the anniversary of Archbishop Oscar Romero鱿鱼视频app 1980 assassination. Romero was killed by an army death squad a day after he broadcast a sermon calling on police and soldiers not to carry out orders that amounted to repression and violations of human rights. Dec. 2 it will be 30 years since four American church women 鈥 three Catholic nuns and a laywoman who worked in poor villages in the Salvadoran countryside 鈥 were raped and murdered near the San Salvador airport.
El Salvador鱿鱼视频app war officially ended in 1992, and the Cold War logic that justified U.S. military aid propping up a corrupt, anticommunist government is fast-fading history. But the memory of those martyrs still matters, said Mary Jo Leddy, one of the founders of Romero House for refugees in Toronto.
Published in
International
November 6, 2009
Africa refugee processing inadequate
{mosimage}Canadian visa officials in Accra, Ghana, have informed the Office of Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto it will probably take more than two years to unite a 14-year-old boy with his family in Toronto.
The extreme delay is typical of a Canadian refugee system that simply isn鈥檛 doing its job in sub-Saharan Africa, said ORAT executive director Martin Mark.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app a shame,鈥 Mark said. 鈥淏asically, it鱿鱼视频app a lack of accountability.鈥
The extreme delay is typical of a Canadian refugee system that simply isn鈥檛 doing its job in sub-Saharan Africa, said ORAT executive director Martin Mark.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app a shame,鈥 Mark said. 鈥淏asically, it鱿鱼视频app a lack of accountability.鈥
Published in
International
November 23, 2009
Justice to be served in Popieluszko's murder
{mosimage}TORONTO - The arrest of two communist-era secret police agents in Poland for helping to frame and harass Polish Solidarity hero and martyr Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko is a matter of justice, said the murdered priest鱿鱼视频app seminary classmate and roommate Fr. Jan Kolodynski.
鈥淔or those who have committed crimes, whether it鱿鱼视频app the case of my classmate or over the last 50 years, it鱿鱼视频app a question of justice. It鱿鱼视频app not a vendetta or vengeance. It鱿鱼视频app out of justice,鈥 said Kolodynski, who was ordained with Popieluszko in 1972. Today the Polish priest is pastor of St. Jerome鱿鱼视频app parish in Brampton, Ont.
鈥淔or those who have committed crimes, whether it鱿鱼视频app the case of my classmate or over the last 50 years, it鱿鱼视频app a question of justice. It鱿鱼视频app not a vendetta or vengeance. It鱿鱼视频app out of justice,鈥 said Kolodynski, who was ordained with Popieluszko in 1972. Today the Polish priest is pastor of St. Jerome鱿鱼视频app parish in Brampton, Ont.
Published in
International
December 10, 2009
Peace activist sees hope for Iraqi Christians
{mosimage}TORONTO - An Iraqi peace campaigner, on tour after receiving a Canadian human rights award, claims Christian Iraqi refugees 鈥 most of them stuck in Syria and Jordan 鈥 could safely return home to live in peace in Iraq.
鈥淟et鱿鱼视频app be honest. To get accepted here as a refugee, I have to talk about violence,鈥 Ibrahim Ismaeel, chair of the board of directors of the Iraqi non-violence network , told The Catholic Register.
鈥淟et鱿鱼视频app be honest. To get accepted here as a refugee, I have to talk about violence,鈥 Ibrahim Ismaeel, chair of the board of directors of the Iraqi non-violence network , told The Catholic Register.
Published in
International
December 18, 2009
G20 interfaith summit gains steam
{mosimage}When the 2010 G8 meeting in Huntsville, Ont., morphed into a G20 meeting in Toronto, organizers of the 2010 World Religious Summit were unfazed.
鈥淲e saw this coming,鈥 said Canadian Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton. 鈥淪o we took this into consideration in the planning.鈥
鈥淲e saw this coming,鈥 said Canadian Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton. 鈥淪o we took this into consideration in the planning.鈥
Published in
International
December 18, 2009
Diplomatic surge needed for Afghanistan, not military
{mosimage}A 鈥渄iplomatic surge,鈥 including talks with willing Taliban leaders, should be the next step in Canada鱿鱼视频app mission to Afghanistan, the majority of Canadian churches have told Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The governing council of the Canadian Council of Churches sent a letter and detailed brief to the Prime Minister Dec. 10 urging the government to invest heavily in diplomacy before Canada begins withdrawing troops in 2011.
The governing council of the Canadian Council of Churches sent a letter and detailed brief to the Prime Minister Dec. 10 urging the government to invest heavily in diplomacy before Canada begins withdrawing troops in 2011.
Published in
International
January 29, 2010
Sacramental wine business under Ontario Liquor Board scrutiny
{mosimage}TORONTO - An internal LCBO review of how Mass wine gets from California to your parish鱿鱼视频app altar has church suppliers a wee bit nervous, but the provincial wine merchant and regulator is trying to reassure everyone it is not going to reroute the grape vine.
A January freedom of information request by The Canadian Press uncovered internal Liquor Control Board of Ontario memos which decried 鈥済eneral non-compliance with rules and regulations鈥 in the sacramental wine business.
A January freedom of information request by The Canadian Press uncovered internal Liquor Control Board of Ontario memos which decried 鈥済eneral non-compliance with rules and regulations鈥 in the sacramental wine business.
Published in
International
January 15, 2010
Canadian Catholic response to Haiti quake 'phenomenal' so far
{mosimage}By 5:15 the afternoon of Jan. 14 鈥 a day after a catastrophic earthquake collapsed buildings and killed thousands in Haiti 鈥 Catholics had overwhelmed the computer servers and phone systems at the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
The level of generosity "is phenomenal," said Development and Peace spokesperson Jasmine Fortin.
The level of generosity "is phenomenal," said Development and Peace spokesperson Jasmine Fortin.
Published in
International
March 19, 2010
Iraqi Christians still can't go home
{mosimage}Elections in Iraq that some claim have opened the way for a more peaceful and democratic state haven鈥檛 overcome the divisions or the sectarian violence that is generating hundreds of thousands of refugees, said an Iraqi Dominican Sister.
Sr. Aman Miriam of Mosul, Iraq 鈥 currently staying with the Adrian Dominican community in Michigan 鈥 told The Catholic Register days after 62 per cent of eligible Iraqis voted in national elections March 7 that the thousands of Iraqi Christians living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria can鈥檛 return home and fear terrorist attacks and kidnapping if they do return.
Sr. Aman Miriam of Mosul, Iraq 鈥 currently staying with the Adrian Dominican community in Michigan 鈥 told The Catholic Register days after 62 per cent of eligible Iraqis voted in national elections March 7 that the thousands of Iraqi Christians living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria can鈥檛 return home and fear terrorist attacks and kidnapping if they do return.
Published in
International
February 24, 2011
Creche convention coming to Toronto for Remembrance Day
TORONTO - War, history and ecumenism are perhaps not the first associations Christians have with table-top models of baby Jesus nestled in the manger. But the Friends of the Creche intend to take on all three serious subjects at a three-day international convention in Toronto Nov. 10 to 12.
It鱿鱼视频app the first time the American branch of the La Universalis Foederatio Praesepistica (known in Canada and the United States as the Friends of the Creche) has held it鱿鱼视频app biennial convention in Canada. It鱿鱼视频app expected to draw 350 conventioneers, plus hundreds more who will visit a display of rare, historic creches on display at the Royal York Hotel.
It鱿鱼视频app the first time the American branch of the La Universalis Foederatio Praesepistica (known in Canada and the United States as the Friends of the Creche) has held it鱿鱼视频app biennial convention in Canada. It鱿鱼视频app expected to draw 350 conventioneers, plus hundreds more who will visit a display of rare, historic creches on display at the Royal York Hotel.
Published in
Canada: Toronto-GTA