Fond memories of early-morning worship services at different Saskatoon churches during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were shared at a recent 40th anniversary celebration for the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, founded in Saskatoon in 1984.

At the 40th anniversary celebration Nov. 22, 2024, Prairie Centre for Ecumenism Board Chair Mary Nordick pointed to the early-morning gatherings on cold and dark prairie mornings in January as times filled with the warmth of fellowship and the joy of re-connecting with friends from other Christian traditions.

Rev. Dr. Sandra Beardsall – a United Church minister and professor emeritus of Church History and Ecumenics who has been involved in the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism (PCE) in various ways over the past 25 years — also shared memories of those early morning gatherings.

“I think those will stay with me all my life,” she said. “I would get up and say ‘what am I doing? It is minus 30!’ And then there would be this beautiful prayer service, and breakfast, and friends … there is something so precious about that praying together early, early in the morning.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and the prorogation of Parliament may have postponed a non-confidence vote and an immediate election, but has not averted the risk of certain organizations losing their charitable status on the basis of religious belief or disagreement with government policy, say experts speaking on behalf of stakeholders.

The finance committee of the House of Commons has tabled a report which, if enshrined in law, could destabilize the entire charitable sector, according to legal experts of two major organizations.

The controversial recommendations from the committee are:

• Anti-abortion organizations should no longer be accorded charitable status;
• The Income Tax Act should be amended to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose.

“The issue is an important one,” Deina Warren, director of legal affairs with the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities (CCCC), told The Catholic Register. “The recommendation has been formally made by a House Committee and ought to be officially retracted, and advancing of religion as a charitable purpose should be positively affirmed by the government.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

When Jesus comes to Mary and Martha in Bethany after the death of Lazarus, he says to Martha “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” And then he asks her, “Do you believe this?” Martha responds, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (John 11:25-27). This exchange prepares us for the miracle of the raising of Lazarus: one who believed, yet even though he died, he lived. Like Lazarus, we who believe, even though we will die, will be raised by Jesus into eternal life.

“Do you believe this?” Jesus’ question puts us on the spot. Our belief, or profession of faith, determines whether we will inherit eternal life. At the same time, in other passages in the Gospels, Jesus reminds us that love of God is the greatest commandment, “and the second is like it,” to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31). “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to the least of these [the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, or imprisoned], you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45).

In every time, every place, and every way, Christians are called to profess their faith in Christ. Faith in God cannot be limited to simple dogmatic formulas but must embrace our whole heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36; Mark 12:30). Faith compels us to order our lives in conformity with Christ’s command to care for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, and imprisoned. What we have done or left undone exposes the imperfections of our profession of faith. So, Jesus’ question “Do you believe this?” is weighted with enormous significance for our lives in this world and the next.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

An Indian diocese has opened its facilities to welcome Hindu pilgrims during a six-week festival in a northern city, hailing it as a “wonderful experience of faith.” Organizers of the millennia-old Maha Kumbh Mela, a mammoth expression of religious piety and ritual bathing that opened on Jan. 13, expect 400 million people in the city of Prayagraj, earlier called Allahabad.

“You have to see it to believe it,” Bishop Louis Mascarenhas of Allahabad in the northern Uttar Pradesh state told UCA News on Jan. 15. “We have thrown open three of our educational institutions — St Joseph College, St Mary’s Convent Inter College, and Bethany Convent School — for the convenience of Hindu pilgrims during the entire duration of the festival,” Mascarenhas said. He said the pilgrims were driven by their faith to take the holy dip in the cold waters despite the temperatures hovering around 4 to 5 degrees Celsius.

Hindus believe that during the auspicious period, a ritual bath in the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswathi can wash away sins, free them from the cycle of rebirth, and help them attain moksha (salvation).

The Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj attracts Hindus worldwide as it occurs only once every 12 years. Many pilgrims begin bathing in the waters before sunrise during the festival scheduled to culminate on Feb. 26.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Taking up the spirit of the recently inaugurated Holy Year 2025, the Cuban government has announced the release of 553 people currently serving prison sentences.

Cuba said it would gradually release the prisoners “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness” following a “thorough analysis” of the legal and humanitarian avenues to enact their release, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement Jan. 14.

The statement did not specify who would be among the 553 prisoners designated to be released.

That same day, the White House announced that it will no longer designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and that it would eliminate some restrictions on Cuba.

The White House said the actions were steps “to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihoods of Cubans.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While calling himself an “old man” and saying he never expected to be pope this long, Pope Francis said he still has dreams for the future.

“We must not stumble upon tomorrow, we must build it, and we all have the responsibility to do so in a way that responds to the project of God, which is none other than the happiness of mankind, the centrality of mankind, without excluding anyone,” the 88-year-old pope wrote in his autobiography.

“Hope: The Autobiography” was written with the Italian editor Carlo Musso beginning in 2019. The book was released Jan. 14 in its original Italian and in 17 other languages in about 100 countries. Random House published the book in the United States, and Penguin Random House Canada released it in Canada.

The original plan, Musso said, was for the book to be released after Pope Francis’ death. But Mondadori, the Italian publisher coordinating the release, said the pope decided in August that it should be published at the beginning of the Holy Year 2025, which has hope as its central theme.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A provisional document published by the Italian Bishops’ Conference on Friday (Jan. 10) and approved by the Vatican cautiously opens the door for the ordination of openly gay men to the priesthood, while maintaining the normal requirement of chastity.

“In the formative process, when referring to homosexual tendencies, it’s also appropriate not to reduce discernment only to this aspect, but, as for every candidate, to grasp its meaning in the global framework of the young person’s personality,” the document reads, adding that the goal is for the candidate to know himself and find harmony between his human and priestly vocation.

The Vatican department for clergy approved the document, which will be valid for three years. The document was signed by the head of the Italian bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who is considered a close collaborator to Pope Francis.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Arians believed that Jesus was a created being and not fully divine; these ideas were condemned at Nicaea in 325, but continue to resurface. The hope of the former preacher to the papal household is that this seventeenth centenary year will see a reawakening of faith in the divinity of Christ and in the trinity of God.

The year 2025 marks the seventeenth centenary of the Ecumenical Council held in the city of Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in the early months of 325. The creed sanctioned by that council unites Christians of the historic Churches – Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican – and the various denominations that go under the name of “Evangelical” and “Pentecostal”. This centenary provides us with a unique opportunity – one that only at this point in history are we able to grasp – to acknowledge and celebrate together the faith that unites all believers in Christ.

It also offers us another, no less important opportunity: to take a reconnaissance flight that looks at faith in Christ in the modern and post-modern world and compares where we stand today to the faith of Nicaea. In the aftermath of a local council held in Rimini in 359, dominated by opponents of Nicaea, St Jerome wrote: “The whole world groaned and was astonished to find itself Arian.” We must ask ourselves whether, by chance, we have an even greater reason today to let out such a groan.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Travelling to Winnipeg following time in Toronto, Pillay participated in a tour of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, met with Indigenous church leaders, had an ecumenical dinner with young adults, visited the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, spoke at a panel discussion co-hosted by the Manitoba Multifaith Council and shared a breakfast at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada National Office with church leaders and representatives. 

“It has been so great to be with you,” Pillay said. “We are pilgrims and continue to co-pilgrim together. If there is one message, one takeaway from the past few days, it is this: You are not alone; we are with you. Worldwide, globally, we stand together. Whatever you experience in this part of the world, we would love to journey with you and be as helpful as we can and seek your guidance as we speak into the situation from the outside.
… Read more » … lire la suite »