The Ecumenical Pioneer

Alan Hustak

May 26, 2017

Irénée Beaubien was a Jesuit who started the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism and pioneered the ecumenical movement in Canada long before the Roman Catholic Church promoted the idea of interfaith dialogue.

Irénée Beaubien was a Jesuit who started the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism and pioneered the ecumenical movement in Canada long before the Roman Catholic Church promoted the idea of interfaith dialogue In recent years, Father Beaubien lent his support to the idea of holding intimate ”communion” meal...

Read more...

Taking Steps For Life

Raymond J. de Souza

May 26, 2017

In his reflection following this year's March for Life, Fr. Raymond de Souza explores the differences of opinion in the pro-life community: between a gradual versus "all-or-nothing" approach to pro-life legislation.

The annual March for Life is organized by Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), which has held for many years a position against what one might call a gradual approach to pro-life legislation That it would be so clearly stated at an event hosted by Campaign Life Coalition though is noteworthy, as seen in t...

Read more...

Appropriate For You

Peter Stockland

May 25, 2017

Senior Editor Peter Stockland shares about the Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing and the Golden Thread Contest – and how they matter as ways to "bring together stories that vividly recount the role of religious faith in Canada’s past and present, and nourish active spiritual life for the future."

If you’re not a fiction writer/poet, or if you just want to tell a compelling account of faith working in the common life of Canada, there’s also the Golden Thread contest running under the auspices of the Thread of 1000 stories It’s why even those who are older than 30 are being asked to spread the...

Read more...

Old Wool and New Threads

Gerry Turcotte

May 25, 2017

"If there are such things as life-defining moments then that was surely one of them. I will never again take my good fortune for granted, and I will always remember that all gifts matter, be they large or small."

I recognized the torn sleeve, the holes peeking out beneath the armpits, and the frayed edges all around ...

Read more...

Past, Present, Future Faith

Heather Lane

May 23, 2017

Heather Lane of Thornhill, Ontario has submitted her story of faith to the Golden Thread Contest. Read what this five-letter word means to her.

Faith: a word so beautiful and haunting that possesses the ability to trace back to my grandparents and past generations ...

Read more...

God In The Trunk

Peter Stockland

May 23, 2017

Convivium Publisher Peter Stockland interviews Cardus co-founder and Executive Vice President Ray Pennings on the findings revealed in last week's Angus Reid poll. Learn more about what Canadians think about sin, faith, and prayer. Convivium Publisher Peter Stockland also took the time to speak with Ray Pennings on the findings revealed in last week's Angus Reid Poll.

Pennings said while it’s encouraging for people of faith to see that religious belief informs how more than half of Canadians engage with the world, it’s unsettling to see how tenuously they connect to the transcendent Amid data amassed by the Angus Reid Institute in conjunction with Cardus’ Faith i...

Read more...

A Way

May 23, 2017

Photographer Annie Spratt's expansive photograph invites the viewer to consider the intersections of time and space. 

The expanse of space inspires a sense of vast unfolding in Annie Spratt's image of rural Iceland ...

Read more...

A Conversation with David Johnston

Raymond J. de Souza and David Johnston

May 19, 2017

At the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Governor-General David Johnston gave profoundly moving remarks about the power of religious faith as exemplified by Queen Elizabeth, and in his own life. We're seeking a transcript for Convivium readers, but for this Victoria Day weekend we're reprising Editor-in-Chief Father Raymond de Souza's 2013 interview with the Queen's representative in Canada..

It’s particularly important for a country such as Canada that’s a middle power in the world, that doesn’t see all things through the barrel of a gun or a particular balance of trade, to strengthen those relationships so they work very well Because we’re so blessed in Canada, we have a tendency to co...

Read more...

Hand It To Atwood

Josh Nadeau

May 18, 2017

Convivium Contributor Josh Nadeau reports on the carefully layered nuance of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale and makes the case for why readers should give it a closer look. 

 What if, though, there are ways of defusing the dynamics of culture war, ways of avoiding these unhelpful, online shouting matches? How can conservative believers, of any faith, react to The Handmaid’s Tale in a way that brings us closer to the root causes of conflict in our society? Most of the at...

Read more...

Under Siege Is Essential Reading

Peter Stockland

May 16, 2017

Publisher Peter Stockland reports from the launch of Don Hutchinson's Under Siege, an examination of the evolution of religious freedom in Canada from 1867 up to our 150th birthday this year.

In fact, he told me recently at the Ottawa launch of Under Siege, before laying plans to build that inescapable structure, religious believers would do well to survey the landscape of Canadian law to make sure they know where they stand As a former board chair for the Christian Legal Fellowship in t...

Read more...

To Differ Without Deferring

Andrew P.W. Bennett

May 15, 2017

Addressing the Our Whole Society interfaith conference at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Cardus’ Andrew Bennett argues genuine pluralism ensures freedom to differ without any obligation to defer.

How then does religious freedom reveal human dignity? Freedom of religion relates directly to the metaphysical need of every human being to freely contemplate and adhere to beliefs that answer these questions: “Who am I? Who am I in relationship to you? Who am I in relationship to the country and wo...

Read more...

Look of Love

Jamie Delaine Watson

May 15, 2017

Photographer Jamie Delaine Watson reminds Sacred Spaces viewers that wherever love is so too is there holy ground. 

...

Read more...

Well Watered Garden

May 15, 2017

Light, dappled goodness, prayer, would we continue to seek to see goodness in the land of the living. 

...

Read more...

Rising

Linda Couture

May 15, 2017

Photographer Linda Couture's piece inspires the viewer with a sense of awe and heavenly reverence as the scale of the structure reminds us of our need to always, always, rise. 

"So we rise," the sculpture beckons us, arms stretched the length of their span ...

Read more...

J. I. Packer

Neil Bramble

May 12, 2017

The life story of James Innell Packer is the story of a shy, introverted young boy of humble beginnings who became a dominant voice guiding the development of British and North American evangelical Christianity after WWII. 

A final note of significance—while Packer did attend an Anglican church in Oxford, he also came in contact with the Plymouth Brethren, a group Wikipedia describes as “a conservative, low church, nonconformist, Evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late...

Read more...