Curing Our Moral Virus of Loneliness

Keith Dow

March 16, 2020

As Prime Minister Trudeau urges Canadians abroad to come home and his cabinet ministers press to reduce the size of permissible gatherings, Convivium contributor Keith Dow encourages us to be aware of the needs of our neighbours. 

What are some of the signs of hope in your neighbourhood? How have you seen people been “come together” – often virtually – to combat the increasing threat of isolation and loneliness? How might this be a time when those who have been most marginalized are recognized as vital contributors and member...

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What The Doctor Ordered

Peter Stockland

March 13, 2020

Instead of softening reality with euphemisms such as "social distancing," perhaps we might consider accepting quarantine as a response to the novel coronavirus, writes Peter Stockland. 

Pulling off the mask of obscuring language would open a real possibility that the coronavirus could, paradoxically, reverse the decades-long plague of social distancing that afflicts us through various strains such as social media isolation, tribal political sequestration, and the pandemic delusion ...

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Toward Coherent Living

Patricia Paddey

March 12, 2020

Welcoming her first grandson, Patricia Paddey reflects on the threads of continuity woven into the baby’s arrival, inspired by Steven Garber’s new book, The Seamless Life.

I was sitting in my daughter’s home—half a country away from my own—listening to the murmurs of her tiny, perfect six-day-old son when I picked up for the first time Steven Garber’s new book The Seamless Life Prior to reading The Seamless Life, vocation was not something I’d thought much about ...

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Doubting the Double-Double Messiah

Rachel Feddema

March 11, 2020

Whether hoax or healing, when the face of Jesus appears on the side of a Tim Hortons, one play holds up the unavoidable questions evoked by quotidian miracles.

Then, an employee replaced some exterior light bulbs and the image of Jesus was gone The actors also address the brick wall with the image of Jesus the same way: downstage and into the imaginary fourth wall ...

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Illuminating the Reality of Injustice

Anthony Bakerdjian

March 11, 2020

The film Just Mercy provides a powerful portrayal of the injustices and oppression faced by death row inmates, writes Anthony Bakerdjian. Seeing these realities invites us to change the way we see the world and ourselves.

What’s at stake when we tolerate inequality and injustice? This is the central question of the film Just Mercy according to Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, and the main character of the film The film, based on Bryan Stevenson’s memoir, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Red...

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Speaking the Truth in Love

Andrew P.W. Bennett

March 10, 2020

In the life of late Polish priest, Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, Cardus’ Andrew Bennett finds a rigorous dedication to truth and religious freedom.

Jerzy had begun to offer on the last Sunday of each month ‘Masses for the Fatherland’ during which he would preach sermons on human dignity, human freedom, and on solidarity which for him signified the struggle by the Polish people to restore human dignity The election of Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal Arc...

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The Convivial Charms of Curling

Raymond J. de Souza

March 10, 2020

Father Raymond de Souza finds spending time at the Brier is a proud mix of citizenship, friendship and sporting glory.

The Brier champion doesn’t always win the world championship, but he has had a much tougher test to get there Watching the Brier lifts that to another level, knowing that these men are the best curlers in the entire world The Brier – Canada’s national men’s curling championship – was held this past ...

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Honouring Women Survivors of Violence and Genocide

Susan Korah

March 9, 2020

Many Western women mark International Women’s Day by rungs on the status ladder, but elsewhere being female and staying alive is the ultimate victory, writes regular contributor Susan Korah.

Both El-Shafie and Nuri Kino, founder and leader of A Demand for Action, a Sweden-based NGO that advocates for Middle Eastern minorities and provides relief to refugees in Lebanon and Syria, agree that the war and genocidal campaigns affect women in a particularly intense way Stern said the number o...

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Seeing the Good in Others

Peter Stockland

March 6, 2020

Concluding a series published this week regarding crucial Indigenous discussion being drowned out by viral alarm bells, Peter Stockland sits down with Cecil Chabot, discussing the significance of partnership between peoples.

While the Newman talk was billed as being drawn for a specific leadership program of the James Bay Cree, Chabot’s words and his personal comportment are invariably drawn from his personal formation as a rare white kid growing up among northern Indigenous people, and developing a lifelong fascination...

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When Will Canada Wake Up?

Peter Stockland

March 5, 2020

Peter Stockland suggests Canadians distracted by the new coronavirus must awaken to pressing issues closer to home, particularly in the case of Indigenous rights. 

Nicholas says Canadians should make themselves aware, too, that generations of young people have emerged from the agitation of the late 1980s and 1990s who are superbly educated, strategically well prepared, and ready to take the cause of Indigenous rights forward whether that’s in the courts or in ...

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Panic’s Power to Distract

Peter Stockland

March 4, 2020

While fears of coronavirus rise to pandemic proportions, Peter Stockland suggests Canadians look to our own land, concerning ourselves instead with Indigenous reconciliation.    

A story Tuesday from Canadian Press noted Canadian scientists are “at the forefront” of a global research response to deal with the virus that has gripped the globe since first emerging a few weeks ago in one primary city in one province in China It’s grounded in our own history of deceiving Indigen...

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The Myths of Starting Over

Jacob Sims

March 4, 2020

When we travel and separate from our historical baggage and community, we reach a radical moment to start over, writes Jacob Sims. But we do not start from square one.

I ponder for a moment how the weight of cultural dominance reinforces our belief that we are somehow the heroes of this story, entitled to our wealth and privilege and selfish personal myths Since leaving home for college nearly 15 years ago, I’ve experienced a number of ‘fresh starts’ in strange ne...

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A Harrowing Heartwarming Tale

John Robson

March 3, 2020

Having sat on the edge of his seat during the movie 1917, John Robson writes the film depicts a war story with likeable characters and requisite tension.

But all that prelude was necessary because the first way the film 1917 could have failed was, like the film Passchendaele, to be a trite anti-war movie The film could also have failed by being a tritely conventional buddy movie ...

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A Small Lent of Great Love

Trevor Anzai

March 2, 2020

When taking on a Lenten sacrifice or practice, we ought first to consider our intentions, writes Trevor Anzai.

One of my supporters corrected my attitude that time I took on cold showers and said, “God prefers a small sacrifice with great love than a great sacrifice with small love So for my fellow brothers and sisters taking part in Lent this year, may we consider a small sacrifice with great love. ...

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Counting Out Majorities

Peter Menzies

March 2, 2020

Peter Menzies wonders whether anyone else has noticed recent signs of an end to the Canada where majority democratic interest had to be considered at least.

This, due to a single solidarity protest by a couple of dozen people on a rail line 5,000 km away from British Columbia’s Bulkley Valley, where five people held a dissenting view regarding process, land title, law and economic development within their peer group of 13 hereditary leaders among a popu...

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