The Irishman’s Last Ride

Raymond J. de Souza

February 7, 2020

Martin Scorsese’s homage to Mafiosos movies is ultimately a tale of life experienced from the perspective of eternity, Father Raymond de Souza writes.

In The Irishman the opening shot shuffles down the corridor of a nursing home, where a retired and decrepit Robert De Niro reflects upon his life as a Mafia hit man in Philadelphia, the assassin – he claims – of Jimmy Hoffa It is the last ride for Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harv...

Read more...

Paying Faith News Forward

Rebecca Darwent

February 5, 2020

An innovative approach by Winnipeg journalist John Longhurst engages religious communities in the media by asking them to fund multi-faith coverage, Convivium’s Rebecca Darwent reports.

“When we as people of faith complain that the media only tells bad stories, or negative stories about religion, we also have to look at our own responsibility for this,” says Longhurst “The best stories from faith communities aren't catastrophic, or aren't scandalous, they're just about people being...

Read more...

Why Changes to Internet Regulation Matter

Peter Stockland

February 4, 2020

A new federal approach to governing broadcasting proposes bringing the Internet under authority of the CRTC, sparking questions of what it means for Canadians’ online access. Two former long-time CRTC commissioners express their concerns.

Menzies believes the federal report’s call for a melding of those two very distinct roles has the very real potential to limit how freely Canadians can access the Internet, and what content they’ll be able to find when they do That regulatory power becomes doubly dark indeed, Denton says, when facto...

Read more...

Hurry: The Enemy of Spiritual Life

Alida Thomas

February 3, 2020

Alida Thomas looks at how John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry can help our hurried, frenzied, burnt out culture, one that greatly affected her own life.

So, when I first heard a podcast of John Mark Comer talking about “Hurry Sickness”—what he articulates as one of the most pressing social, emotional, and spiritual issues of our modern world—and when I picked up a copy of his recent book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally He...

Read more...

Ticking Clocks and Kobe Bryant

Raymond J. de Souza

January 31, 2020

Last week’s helicopter crash that killed the basketball star and eight others leads Father Raymond de Souza to ponder Jesus’ warning about death and thieves in the night.

And in basketball, so many of the dramatic moments are in those last seconds, 5… 4… 3… 2… 1 From a natural point of view, Kobe’s premature death came at a time when there was much evident goodness and happiness in his life Kobe was killed on that hillside at a time in his life when there was happine...

Read more...

Between Despotism and Democracy

Sean Ghormley

January 30, 2020

Contributor Sean Ghormley wades into the debate over Christian responses to Donald Trump and sides with those who are calling for a more critical look at his presidency. 

Forgetting the questionable exegesis of Scripture and a debatable application of Christian political commentary, Leithart’s assertion to be cautious and passive, rather than allow legitimate inquiry into the truth of President Trump’s activities, not only seems incongruent with the principles of a h...

Read more...

Come With a Song

John von Heyking

January 30, 2020

Political philosopher John von Heyking bids adieu to Roger Scruton, the English thinker, critic, and leading conservative voice who was drawn to conservatism by looking out his window at the 1968 riots in Paris.

Scruton explains he became Roger instead of Vernon at age 10 after he accidentally bloodied the nose of the school bully, who had wished to punish Scruton both for his “sissy” name and his red hair His critique of scientific reductionism and defence of the human person in books, including Soul of th...

Read more...

When MAiD Matters More Than Choice

Peter Stockland

January 27, 2020

A small palliative care facility in Vancouver has been told it must drop its refusal to provide MAiD for qualifying patients in its care, despite being a private organization.

While the Society owns the building and has a 35-year lease on the land, the Fraser Health Authority decides which patients are admitted for palliative hospice care She wants Canadians to demand that a small hospice be permitted to keep its doors open so patients who don’t want MAiD, and don’t want ...

Read more...

Grant Us Teachers of Spirit

Brett Fawcett

January 24, 2020

Arguing over funding cuts to modern public education is a race to irrelevancy unless pedagogues see their proper role as being far deeper than ensuring students fit snugly into modern society, argues contributor Brett Fawcett. 

Predictably, they remind everyone of how essential the education of our children is for the future and how necessary education is for students to learn the skills they need in our modern world (remember this) and, therefore, how reckless the government is being by restricting the flow of money into ...

Read more...

The Slippery Slopes in New MAiD Criteria

Lucas Vivas and Pascal Bastien

January 22, 2020

Drs. Lucas Vivas and Pascal Bastien suggest Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) breaks apart community and risks irreversibly harming our most vulnerable, particularly as the government proposes its new criteria.

In our resource scarce health care system, we have seen patients request MAiD as they perceive it to be the only realistic solution to their suffering Fear of the future and of losing control are real problems patients struggle with, but they are not the problems that MAiD is fundamentally meant to ...

Read more...

Walking the Way of the Camino Nova Scotia

Hannah Marazzi

January 21, 2020

Convivium’s Hannah Marazzi sits down with recent pilgrim Donna Preater, to discuss her physical and spiritual journey on a mini-Camino walk this past fall.

I shared it the next day at our time of evening reflection and one of the women who had given up her faith approached me and said, "Donna, I can see you love the church One that will always remain profound to me is of the day we arrived at a little Anglican church in the Annapolis Valley that had fo...

Read more...

MAiD In Canada: A Thankless Fight

Peter Stockland

January 20, 2020

As Canadians weigh in on prospective changes to MAiD laws, Peter Stockland sits down with Euthanasia Prevention Coalition’s Alex Schadenberg to discuss his serious concerns with the country’s trajectory.

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti and two of his Liberal cabinet colleagues are shepherding the process in response, at least purportedly, to a 2019 Quebec lower court ruling that found Ottawa’s MAiD law to be unconstitutional “They (the federal government) know there’s not a judge in the land ...

Read more...

John Crosbie: In Memoriam

Raymond J. de Souza

January 16, 2020

As mourners gather today to honour John Crosbie, Fr. Raymond de Souza recollects the late politician’s outspoken presence and performance through the years.

Crosbie’s time on the national stage coincided with the rise of television in Canadian politics Crosbie would enter provincial politics as part of Smallwood’s cabinet, but would later resign in protest against the autocratic tendencies and corruption of a de facto one-man rule Crosbie’s 15 years on ...

Read more...

Canada’s Darkness and Light in Iran

Susan Korah

January 15, 2020

Susan Korah finds Canadians of Iranian origin heartened by responses to the downing of Flight 752 – but critical of Ottawa’s approach broader to Tehran.

The second thread that emerges from this multi-stranded story is that all this gratitude and appreciation has not muted the criticism of some of Iranian Canadians for Canada’s weak-kneed handling of its relations with the Islamic Republic, and its failure to stand up to the regime, which is notoriou...

Read more...

The Timeless Treasure of Little Women

Dayna Hillier

January 14, 2020

Dayna Slusar says the latest remake transforms Louisa May Alcott’s 19th century classic into a dazzling mosaic of 21st century sisterhood.

The 1994 Little Women tells the chronological timeline of the sisters’ lives, so I naturally assumed Gerwig would take her impressive cast and give us a 2.0 version of the story, blowing me away I’m certainly not the only skeptical heart who cares enough about the story and this family to look beyon...

Read more...