Presence at the Heart of the World

Joseph McDaniel

September 7, 2018

While the world often overwhelms with its cacophony of conflicting voices, the Benedictine monks of B.C.’s Westminster Abbey heed the prophetic call of St. Benedict and seek God in work, prayer and silence. But their peace, writes Joseph A. McDaniel, OSFS, is truly open to all who follow the Cross.

A recent visit home allowed me the opportunity to return to Westminster Abbey, and speak with Abbot John Braganza about the foundations of the Benedictine way of life, and the way in which it continues to serve as a visible sign of the presence of God in the world In our own present age of flux, in ...

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The Catholic Crisis So Far

Raymond J. de Souza

September 6, 2018

Convivium’s Editor in Chief Father Raymond J. de Souza provides a compendium of columns to help readers understand the newest iteration of the sexual abuse scandals rocking Rome.

It’s true that major reforms were made in Canada by the Catholic Church in the early 1990s, and in the United States in 2002, and that in many ways today the Catholic Church is a model of what to do in confronting the sexual abuse of minors But the Catholic Church was for a long time a model of what...

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Independent Doesn’t Mean Isolated

Peter Stockland with Deani Van Pelt

September 5, 2018

Who’s blazing a trail on school funding in Canada? Turns out it’s Saskatchewan. And as Cardus senior fellow Dr. Deani Van Pelt tells Convivium publisher Peter Stockland, two new education research papers hold some fascinating findings for Canadians interested in public education.

What we found interesting when it came to that public relations or that government relations side, was the associations that served independent schools in funded provinces were more involved in the government relations, that is in the government advocacy side We were interested not only in how many ...

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Why is Sex Ed Silent About Marriage?

Andrea Mrozek

September 5, 2018

Meet Ontario’s new old sex ed, same as Ontario’s old new sex ed, writes Cardus Family Director Andrea Mrozek. Meanwhile, Mrozek notes, the proven, enduring good of marriage gets crickets.

To which I’d respond that we have hit an ironic point: The Canadian federal government legalized same-sex marriage because it’s a critical institution to which sex must not be a barrier – only to stop talking about it altogether But where support, safe sexuality, poverty reduction, health and child ...

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Drawing the Stranger Near

Peter Stockland with Anika Barlow

September 4, 2018

Anika Barlow, hospitality coordinator at Vancouver’s Kinbrace Refugee Community Society, talks to Convivium about the power of faith to bring new arrivals and hosts alike closer to encountering God.

It gives me the ability to relate to many of the families who arrive at Kinbrace whether they're Muslim or Christian or otherwise AB: I can think of specific interactions I've had with people when they've been in a pretty dark place of heightened anxiety and uncertainty about what the future will ho...

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Pigskin Crossing Pattern

Peter Stockland with Rodd Sawatzky

August 31, 2018

As the Calgary Stampeders prepare for their annual Labour Day Classic against their CFL rivals from Edmonton, team chaplain Rodd Sawatzky’s role is to help the team’s strong cohort of Christian players remember true victory is in Christ. The director of pro ministries for Athletes in Action spoke recently with Convivium’s Peter Stockland.

When I'm dealing with the spiritual things, what happens is because I was an athlete, because I am a coach, because I love people and I'm clear on the critical Christian mindset character, what Christ called us to be and live and understand and hold to be true, all of that melds into conversations t...

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The Diversity of Open Hearts

Hannah Marazzi with Levon Isakhanyan

August 31, 2018

On Monday, our Editor in Chief, Father Raymond de Souza, raised some gently ironic questions about the Canadian Football League’s “Diversity is Strength” campaign. Today, Convivium’s Hannah Marazzi talks to Levon Isakhanyan, of the Armenian Diocese of Canada, about a new documentary that celebrates genuine diversity rooted in heart-felt love.

Are people literate regarding what secularism is? Do they know the benefits are of religious pluralism? In this context, I would say the faith-based communities have an important role to play in promoting their own importance to the well being of multicultural societies C: The documentary focuses on...

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Division in the Church

Raymond J. de Souza

August 30, 2018

In a week that saw Pope Francis accused of covering up squalid sexual scandal, Father Raymond de Souza fears for the unity of the Catholic Church but takes counsel in Ezekiel’s warning of God’s judgement on bad shepherds.

The “testimony” of the former papal ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, which accuses Pope Francis and others of looking the other way on the predatory behaviour of (now former) Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, has created outrage throughout the Church – and great division In...

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Taking the Filter Off Life With Instagram

Andrew Peterson

August 29, 2018

Singer-songwriter and recording artist, Andrew Peterson explores his radical decision to delete Instagram off his phone in an age of almost constant social connectivity. You might ask if an artist whose very livelihood is tied to marketing can afford to remove himself from this social media platform? The real question, says Petersen, is can he afford not to?

How do I reconcile all this with the fact that I’ve come to know some of you well because of interactions on social media? How can I discount the massive encouragement I’ve received from some of you via Facebook or Instagram? How do I deny the fact that I have been blessed and shaped by albums and b...

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Remembering What We Do Not Know

Rachel Feddema

August 28, 2018

In her review of Natalie Morrill's debut novel The Ghost Keeper, Convivium's Rachel DeBruyn reminds us that although abundant historical fiction has already been set in the World Wars, fiction retains the power to express truth even where facts are lost.

While her novel stands on its own as a marvelous tale, it also fits as a piece of the larger body of fiction that explores the complexity of the Second World War Whenever I peruse the historical fiction section of a bookstore, or the historical flicks that make their way through theatres, a question...

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Huddle Up For Diversity

Raymond J. de Souza

August 27, 2018

With the Canadian Football League busily promoting the goal of diversity, Father Raymond de Souza notes the distinct absence of height-challenged 140-pound players on the field.

[The 2018] initiative builds on the strength of the campaign we launched a year ago, when CFL coaches, players and fans rallied around this positive message by donning Diversity Is Strength T-shirts But why does “ability” appear in the list of “our strength comes from diversity?” Can it be honestly ...

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Standing Up For Trinity Western’s Board

Ray Pennings

August 20, 2018

Cardus Executive Vice-President Ray Pennings challenges social media “experts” disparaging TWU’s volunteer board for altering its Community Covenant. Agree or disagree, with the decision, the members served with honour and sincerity, Pennings argues.

Whether you agreed with their stand or not, TWU, and the board members who ultimately had to make these missional decisions, decided to stand up all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada for their right to have a Community Covenant I estimate that one year when I served as chair of the board of a C...

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When Politics Goes Wrong

Peter Stockland

August 17, 2018

Convivium publisher Peter Stockland argues recovery of genuine political conversation requires that we start asking the right questions about our political differences.

It’s the slow suffocation of the very possibility of political conversation, Smith says The outstanding question, however, is whether the words were in fact wayward, and if so, why? Here is a veteran member of Parliament raising a matter of public policy which, it’s worth remembering, is what we pay...

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Welcome to Year Zero

Andrew P.W. Bennett

August 16, 2018

By removing a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, the City of Victoria has gone down the perilous path of erasing history rather than learning from it, Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett argues. What next? Renaming Montreal’s Trudeau airport because the former PM formally called for assimilation of Indigenous Canadians?

In the interest of righting a genuine and grave historic wrong – the suffering of our Indigenous peoples ­– the historical hubris of our present Canadian age is distorting history yet again We must and openly and publicly discuss their failures, but also their great achievements: the Canadian Pacifi...

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Trinity Western Gives Reason To Believe

Albertos Polizogopoulos

August 15, 2018

TWU’s abandonment of its mandatory Community Covenant following a Supreme Court loss in June is a serious blow – but nowhere close to the end of the battle for religious freedom in Canada, writes Ottawa lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos.

In the face of the Supreme Court’s decisions, TWU was left with an important decision to make: either maintain the Community Covenant and give up its plan to open a law school (and potentially face further challenges to its other professional schools) or abandon the mandatory nature of the Community...

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