Lionel Groulx

Preston Jones

March 17, 2017

Lionel-Adolphe Groulx did not only write history, he made it, stoking the flame of Quebec nationalism. Groulx was a historian who believed that pride in the past would give French Canadians confidence in their future. Despite thirty-four years as a professor at the University of Montreal, Groulx was no ivory-tower academic.

What mattered most to Groulx was that Quebec should preserve its French language, its French culture, and its Roman Catholic faith Groulx enshrined his vision for Quebec nationalism in his massive Histoire du Canada francais dupuis la Découverte (The History of French Canada Since Discovery), which ...

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Pure laine and Purim

Gideon Strauss

March 17, 2017

In the eleventh installment of his Outremont series, columnist Gideon Strauss takes us through Quebec history through the eyes of Guy, "a “pure laine Outremonter.”

Because of this history of discrimination and a sense of precariousness with regard to the current recognition and protection of their language and culture, many Quebeckers – and Guy does not agree with this sentiment, even though he says that he can understand it – feel that the pressure towards mu...

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The Political Tragedy of Scorsese’s Silence

Gavin Miller

March 17, 2017

Did you see the film Silence? Toronto-based writer Gavin C. Miller gives Convivium readers a review and seeks to debunk wide spread misconceptions that may be held about the film. 

And this is where the real challenge of the film lies: is there a point where force and brutality can overcome heroism and crush it to powder? Does sufficient faith lead one to a happy ending? The title Silence refers to the silence of God Did I really want to see another film about morbid clergy, t...

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Breitbart Today. Baptists Tomorrow?

Raymond J. de Souza

March 16, 2017

What is the relationship between morality and commerce? Editor-in-Chief Father Raymond de Souza on Shopify, Breitbart, free speech, and the importance of standards.

Lütke appeals to an empty relativism: If we had a standard, whose standard would apply? The obvious answer is the standards of Shopify Indeed, Lütke’s first argument about commerce being an arena of liberty underscores the importance of commercial choices, and therefore the moral responsibility of t...

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Nobody Babies

Peter Stockland

March 15, 2017

In an interview with Convivium, Andrea Mrozek, program director for Cardus Family, says Ottawa’s recent pledge of $650 million to make abortion more widely available overseas as part of a reproductive health initiative is another marker of Canadian society’s generalized disdain for having babies. 

Andrea Mrozek: A lot of women will comment that once they have children, particularly if they choose to stay home with those children, then they disappear from the public The other part of Cardinal Collins' letter that really resonated with me is his criticism of the strong undertone Prime Minister ...

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The Canon's Answer

March 14, 2017

Convivium’s publication of David Goa’s review of “The Slow Professor, Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy” by Maggie Berg and Barbara K.Seeber sparked lively debate among our readers. The most eloquent were from university students engaged in various degree levels and programs of study.

I have experienced many conversations along the topic of this article in the last year, all with my university student friends who expressed their concerns about humanities in university becoming corporatized I read Ron Srigley’s article last year, and recognized it as a manifesto, yet also as a bit...

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Writing With The Light On

Hannah Marazzi

March 13, 2017

Sarah Bessey, lay theologian, writer, and blogger is a Canadian whose voice has emerged to lead a generation. Convivium’s Hannah Marazzi interviewed Bessey by correspondence about the changing nature of theology in the public sphere, the importance of literature to a life of faith, and the imagery of the author’s beloved Canadian landscape that finds its way into all of her writing.

Convivium’s Hannah Marazzi interviewed Bessey by correspondence about the changing nature of theology in the public sphere, the importance of literature to a life of faith, and the imagery of the author’s beloved Canadian landscape that finds its way into all of her writing So, while it’s been a joy...

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Charles Ellington

Lloyd Mackey

March 10, 2017

Charles Ellington is a “product” the Protestant Orphanage in Victoria. Ellington later played a pivotal role in the transitioning of the traditional and now-outmoded orphanage to a multi-faceted government-assisted cluster of family services and facilities.

Oaklands, and the evangelical Christian community of which it was a part, was home to Ellington as a young adult and he grew exponentially in his leadership skills in that community Most significant, among these leadership activities, given the place of his “home” as a young child, was his 25 years ...

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George Vanier: The Best of Us

Raymond J. de Souza

March 10, 2017

Editor in Chief Father Raymond J de Souza writes a profound tribute to one of Canada's greatest citizens, General Georges Philias Vanier, Canada’s 19th Governor General.

Heroic solder, military amputee, war-time diplomat, passionate defender of Canadian unity, a courteous gentleman, amateur political philosopher, student of theology, loving husband and successful father, devoutly religious – can any other figure be so easily proposed as a model for Canadians today? ...

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Seeing Local. Looking Deep.

Gideon Strauss

March 10, 2017

Outremont's Gideon Strauss digs deep to better understand the Montreal he is encountering today. Follow along with his photo essay! 

The first Jewish synagogue in Outremont, Beth David, was established in 1929, when the congregation (which was established in by immigrants from Rumania) bought a building on St I’ve met with, talked to, and tried to understand the complex, interwoven responses of my neighbors in Montreal’s Outremon...

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Inspiring Missions in Vancouver

John Hall

March 9, 2017

Missions Fest Vancouver has served the Christian community of Vancouver and the Fraser Valley for 34 years. What began as a small collaborative effort to put on a mission conference between a number of churches in the region, has now grown to be an organization that serves the church community all year long. In fact, we now run the largest annual Christian mission conference in North America. 

This year our conference is tackling the subject of what justice is from a Christian perspective, and ways that we can live justly in a world that is unjust to so many What began as a small collaborative effort to put on a mission conference between a number of churches in the region, has now grown ...

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Reaching Other Mothers

Gideon Strauss

March 9, 2017

In his nineth regular dispatch from from Montreal’s faith-rich Outremont district, Gideon Strauss meets Nora Chénier-Jones, a woman who co-founded Pluralisme Outremont, a group promoting an appreciation of diversity in Outremont's schools.

Yet a few experiences with regard to the treatment of diversity in these communities that disappointed them and a desire to “encourage, facilitate, and create interaction to promote respectful understanding among the diverse people who make up our school communities” (the mission of Pluralisme Outre...

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Celebrating Women Together

Peter Stockland

March 8, 2017

Cardus Family Program Director Andrea Mrozek shares about the vision for Cardus' Inaugural International Women's Day event. 

Mrozek says polling data Cardus published just before International Women’s Day shows Canadian women – and Canadian feminism – to be far from politically monolithic ...

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The Industry of Ideas

Peter Stockland

March 7, 2017

Publisher Peter Stockland contests the idea that the age in which we dwell is one marked entirely by misinformation and the mediocre. Rather, he points us towards the rich tradition of several publications upon which to delve and enjoy a taste of "the good, the true, and the beautiful." 

I point to the NYRB to make my case only because its entire subject matter as, well, a review of books, concerns the thinking life that breeds rich culture To buy the New York Review of Books is to be reminded 20 times a year at point of purchase, and daily for as long as it takes to read the latest...

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Revenge Is Sour

Tim McCauley

March 6, 2017

Father Tim McCauley points readers towards the necessity of recovering an approach towards politics which prizes perspective over personality. 

I am grieved by the dissolution of civilized discourse in political life, yet the electric shock to my system came from meeting certain conservative Catholics who also seem to hate Pope Francis!  Christians have always hoped that the Church (Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic) would be the light of t...

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