The Greatest Shmaltz

Rachel Feddema

March 8, 2018

Convivium writer Rachel DeBruyn finds The Greatest Showman fails to exploit its richest asset: the outcasts who stepped from the shadows into the spotlight. Yet the film is salvaged by one curmudgeonly character getting at its would-be heart in an unexpected way.

And perhaps the relationship between Bennett and Barnum gets to the core of the movie – the celebration of humanity and diversity – in an unexpected way Bennett, a stoic and well-respected theatre critic, meets Barnum shortly after publishing his first scathing review of the circus ...

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A Seat At The Table

Christoph Sanz, with Kimberly Wilkinson, Hannah Marazzi

March 7, 2018

Today, Convivium's Hannah Marazzi sits down with the folks from Barnabas Farmworks to learn more about their theology of farming and discuss pigs, poetry, and the sacramental goodness of the ordinary tomato. 

When we're trying to decide how to spend our time, the relational component takes precedence, with our guests and the kids that are spending time with us on the farm, but also with our neighbours on the island as well Over the course of the week, each age group of kids will spend a significant porti...

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Baby Steps for Gerber

Keith Dow

March 6, 2018

Recently, the Gerber baby food company chose a child with Down syndrome as its “spokesbaby.”  But as Keith Dow of Christian Horizons asks, while the winner’s extra chromosome paints an adorable picture for disability advocacy, will the small step begin a journey of lasting social change? 

Plenty of stigma and misinformation still exists, but I am grateful for images and stories that tell the truth about the lives of people with Down syndrome like little baby Lucas, like Penny, and like hundreds of thousands of other beautiful people around the globe We need companies like Gerber to g...

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Salvation By The Young

Ray Pennings

March 6, 2018

Drawing on Angus Reid polling, Cardus Executive Vice-President Ray Pennings tells Convivium’s Peter Stockland why young Canadians are far more faith driven than the current secular narrative leads us to believe.

Convivium: In a recent symposium hosted by the Centre for Research on Religion at McGill University in Montreal, you made the argument that Angus Reid polling data shows young people are much more engaged in faith than we think The narrative is really one of decline of influence of faith institution...

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The Law Society of Orwell

Albertos Polizogopoulos

March 5, 2018

Ottawa lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos is saying “no” to the Law Society of Ontario’s demand for a written statement of principles obliging lawyers in the province to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. Here’s why.

The 2017 annual report, which is due March 31st, requires lawyers to confirm that they have a written Statement of Principles that confirms an obligation to “promote equality, diversity, and inclusion My obligation as a lawyer and member of the LSUC is to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduc...

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Finding Strength In Civic Culture

John Weston

March 2, 2018

Against the seemingly intractable problems of world hotspots such as the Middle East, it can sometimes seem naïve to continue seeking solutions. The real answer, says former MP John Weston, isn’t surrender but cultivation of a civic culture that moulds people to believe they can make a difference.

Civic culture moulds people to believe they can make a difference, influencing public policy beyond politics and military intervention Civic culture influences Global Affairs officers such as former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Randolph Mank, to invite Canadian jurists, lawyers, and educators to l...

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#YourBudget Does You No Favours

Andrea Mrozek

March 2, 2018

The federal budget released this week purports to give women a hand up when in reality it gives men the brush off, contends Cardus Family Program Director Andrea Mrozek.

The budget seems set on trying to solve this problem by ensuring women have fewer, not more, choices Imagine that Budget 2018 referenced men 708 times instead of women ...

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World's Strand

Rebekah Ann Lamb

March 1, 2018

Where do you see evidence of the transcendent in your midst? Today author and photographer Rebekah Ann Lamb invites us  to see through her sacred lens. 

Dotting the coastline of the Firth of Forth’s Northern Shore, in the East Neuk of Fife, Anstruther cottages are often a layering of varied patterns, textures, and materials: rock, sea-shells, brick, stone, slate, tile, and vivid paints accent the meeting of sea with shore, of the unfathomable with t...

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God Must Be Tax Free

Raymond J. de Souza

March 1, 2018

Convivium’s Editor in Chief Father Raymond de Souza says pressure to tax churches misunderstands the distinction between Heaven and the State. 

The mayor of Jerusalem, without notice or consultation, slapped tax arrears assessments on church properties not used for worship, including the vast number of guest houses that welcome pilgrims visiting the holy sites And the Church, which belongs to God before it belongs to the natural order, does...

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Spring Forward: Meet Your Limits.

Christoph Sanz

February 28, 2018

In this beautiful reflection, Convivium contributor Christoph Sanz says Lent’s somber gift is discovering our limitations before they find us.

Much like the seeds we are now planting in seed trays in our greenhouse, the season of Lent is the Holy Spirit’s invitation for us to let our hopes fall to the ground and die, where they can be sanctified in the baptism of repentance and brought back to life infused with the power of Christ’s resurr...

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Budget 2018: Dreams That Deny Data

Peter Stockland

February 28, 2018

This week’s federal budget has admirable elements but also goes a long way to show the Liberal government’s shortcomings, Cardus experts tell Convivium.

The real intention of the budget, Mrozek says, is to pressure more women into joining the work force to enrich the federal tax base and fund billions in new government programs Dijkema does applaud a number of initiatives in Morneau’s newest budget, including the new Canadian Workers Benefit, increa...

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Keeper of the Hill

Sam Burriss

February 28, 2018

The keeper of the hill, the shelter - who hides us from the storms of the seasons? 

This barn has stood on the peak of the hill for what seems to be forever and an age ...

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This Budget’s For You

Peter Stockland

February 27, 2018

Finance Minister Bill Morneau handed down a 2018 budget today that spends billions in new money Canada doesn’t have, and raises the national debt to almost $700 billion. But no worries, writes Convivium’s Peter Stockland. It’s also got a gendered analysis.  And it puts people first.

For whether we call today’s document a budget or a social engineering blueprint, it is what federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau rose in the House of Commons to declare: “A plan that puts people first For example, increasing by $1.4 billion the amount available to women entrepreneurs through the Bu...

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Last Post For The Daily Bugle

Peter Stockland

February 26, 2018

Tomorrow’s federal budget will reportedly hand millions in tax subsidies to Canada’s newspaper companies. Convivium’s Peter Stockland contends that will be the day their music dies.

It’s the cold reality that has made the dividing line with journalism, again especially newspaper journalism, so crucial not only to democracy, but to our social order Some entity, some organization, some private business will be scooping up public cash to continue publishing something that has the ...

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The Stretch for Sunlight

Craig Whitehead

February 26, 2018

The promise of growth, new life, the stretch for sunlight serve as signs of the sacred to come. 

Leafy green fronds pad gently at the window, moulding day by day to the shape of the sun that shines through the aged panes of glass, a thin separation between them and the outside world ...

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