Why Convivium?
Raymond J. de Souza
February 1, 2014
The need for fresh voices on faith in our common life seems greater every day, says Fr. de Souza. "I hope you'll join us."
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Sea to Sea
Raymond J. de Souza
February 1, 2014
Fr. Raymond J. de Souza travels to Israel with Prime Minister Stephen Harper
O'Brien, writing on Kurelek's work in the last century of the second millennium, extends his vision to that millennium's first century, detecting "a humanism which had its beginnings as far back as the Great Schism between the Latin and Greek Church, where a difference of theological emphasis regard...
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Lessons from the Blue Tzedakah
Diane Weber Bederman
February 1, 2014
In Diane Weber Bederman's childhood kitchen, gratitude began with charity
And then spread the gratitude to the many things we take for granted, such as the food on our table, with a simple prayer of thanks for the bread placed before us Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, summarized patterns of thought this way: We think about something and activate thought circuitry; we...
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A Swift Kick of Christ
John Zucchi
February 1, 2014
John Zucchi hears Pope Francis calling us from spiritual slumber
In one of the last sections of his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis poses what would appear to be a rhetorical question: "The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever ...
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Campuses, Courts and Culture Wars
Mary Anne Waldron
February 1, 2014
Law Professor Mary Anne Waldron fears for religious freedom
Is that now to change? If not, why should a lawyer's beliefs and thoughts be scrutinized only on this one issue? And, finally, while same-sex marriage is legal in Canada, where core religious principles are jeopardized by recognition of its morality, cases suggest that freedom of religion under the ...
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First, We bar all the Lawyers
Conrad Black
February 1, 2014
Conrad Black makes a serious point with his trademark wit
While I did not wish to practise, essentially because I did not wish to work for others but rather for myself and for my own account, I care for the law, and despite what I am saying about the legal and other professions, I think that society functions well, given that it is run by people In the int...
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Ash Wednesday: A Buddhist's Reflection
Trevor Carolan
February 1, 2014
Denial is a healthy spiritual discipline says Trevor Carolan.
Forty-odd years ago, it presented a real Shakespearean dilemma: to wipe or not to wipe off the smudge of ash the priest daubed upon my forehead at the spartan early morning service As human beings, we yearn for ritual — how else to explain the rare exception-to-the-rule Remembrance Day ceremonies th...
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The Light and Dark of China's Church
Naomi Biesheuvel
February 1, 2014
Naomi Biesheuvel says Christianity is growing despite difficulties
Li is a Chinese-Canadian Christian who has travelled to and spoken at many churches — both official and unofficial — in China over the last several years, and she describes Chinese Christians as "hungry and thirsty Wang, "this kind of misunderstanding was caused by the different missionary policies ...
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Publisher's Letter
Peter Stockland
February 1, 2014
Hunger for religious faith re-grounds us in a seriousness proper to grow wise in, even if only that so much grass lies round.
The Chinese Church may not be basking in the Four Winds of Happiness – living out religious faith still requires a delicate dance with the Communist dragon – but it is feeding the increasing hunger for the Word A student of Buddhism for 40 years, Carolan lives anew the meaning of the Lenten ashes fr...
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The Conversation
Paul Donovan
February 1, 2014
Principal Paul Donovan explains why Loyola High School in Montreal is going to the Supreme Court
C: Just to put it in context, the Loyola High School student who was centre of the case, the complainant so to speak, is now attending Concordia University and will be finishing his first year when the Supreme Court hears the appeal on March 24 C: There was the Drummondville case, of course, in whic...
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Small Talk
Raymond J. de Souza
February 1, 2014
Our editor-in-chief's regular miscellany
Tough enough to need a Canada Goose parka? The Canadian company — named after the winged vermin that gives life to the scatological expression "he went through it like s--- through a goose" — has experienced a boom in recent years, with their high-end parkas becoming a most fashionable item Informat...
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On the Table
Deborah Rankin
February 1, 2014
Deborah Rankin reports on two Christian MPs leading the fight against the sex trade
Julia Beazley, a policy analyst for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), which has supported the anti-human-trafficking bills of Mourani and Smith, says that Canadian laws are often contradictory, especially in controversial areas such as prostitution Mourani has asked her colleagues in Parli...
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In Defense of Suburbia
Doug Sikkema
January 31, 2014
I agree with Greusel that suburbs lack certain civic spaces, but such a reduction of people and their place is hardly a charitable reading of what suburban spaces really offer ...
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Trading Up: Women and the New Industrial Revolution
Naomi Biesheuvel
January 24, 2014
Kellie Leitch, Canada's Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, who pointed out the continued relevance of this issue: "We don't have the right people in the right places doing the right things And following Minister Leitch was Rosemary Sparks, another of the few remarkable women who bel...