Faith

Mea Maxima Masculinity Culpa

Raymond J. de Souza

March 30, 2017

Editor in Chief Father Raymond J. de Souza reflects on the Man Up Against Violence Week occurring at the University of Regina, socialized hypermasculinity, and the true nature of confession.

Pope Francis promotes the sacrament of confession with great vigour. Specifically, during Lent he has requested that every diocese designate a church to remain open for “24 Hours for the Lord” where priests are available all that day and night for those des...

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Re-seeing Religious Resentment

Gideon Strauss

March 24, 2017

Today, Gideon Strauss introduces us to his beloved Outremont through the eyes of Valérie Amiraux, author, scholar, professor, and Outremont resident.

“When people address religion, they address religion for what they see of religion…and what they see is people who do not behave as they would.” ~ Valérie Amiraux

Salomé et les hommes en noir is ...

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Post-Christian Mobs of Yobs

Raymond J. de Souza

March 23, 2017

On the heels of a full week, Editor in Chief Father Raymond J. de Souza reflects on the violence in both London, England and London, Ontario, St. Patrick's Day, and the release of Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option.

There was violence on the streets of London. London, the quondam imperial capital, suffered a terror attack yesterday. But there has been frightening public in our London, Ontario, too. Google reminds us, in case we’ve forgotten, with this Toronto Star ...

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Telling Our Better Stories

Doug Sikkema

March 20, 2017

Convivium's Doug Sikkema examines the role that story telling plays in his life as a Canadian and a man of faith. And as project lead for The Ross and Davis Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing, he's looking for Canadian writers and poets to submit unpublished short stories or suites of poetry by June 30. There's $25,000 in prize money to be won.

It’s the year of Canada’s 150th anniversary—our sesquicentennial if you like awful words—and there’s been lots of talk about our Canadianness. Just what is it that makes Canadians Canadians? What are our shared values a...

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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.”

I met Guy Archambault at a Purim celebration in Montreal’s Outremont borough. The Friends of Hutchiso...

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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.

Martin Scorsese’s recent movie Silence, based on the Shusaku Endo novel, remains topical as it moves into Netflix land. Frankly, I was reluctant to even see it in the theatre. While there are a few shining counter-examples, most movies about religi...

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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.

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 l...

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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.

The fiftieth anniversary of the death of General Georges Philias Vanier, Canada’s 19th Governor General, fell earlier this week. Having lived the great Canadian life, he died in Canada’s centennial year. He has lessons to teach us in this year of...

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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!

For the past two months, I’ve been researching and writing a series for Convivium on what many would see at first glance as a strictly local problem.

I’ve met with, talked to, and tried to understand the complex, interwoven responses of my n...

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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.

“As a mother, I hope that I can reach other mothers. ‘You, as a mother, should know how this would feel for your own kids.’ If we can find common ground on that, we can start from there.”

Nora Chénier-Jones is a black Canadian who was born and raised...

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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.

Cardus will welcome International Women’s Day tonight by hosting its inaugural celebration at its Ottawa office three doors down from Parliament Hill.

Andrea Mrozek, program director for Cardus family, will host a sold out reception and panel discuss...

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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.

Hate is in vogue. During the latest American election campaign, it was an entirely acceptable position, among certain conservative Republicans, to hate Hillary Clinton. Now it is not only commonplace but perhaps even expected among certain liberal Democrat...

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Reformation Thoughts in Rome

Raymond J. de Souza

March 2, 2017

Father Raymond de Souza reflects on the Reformation as an opportunity for reflection.

This quincentennial year of the Reformation offers us at Convivium an opportunity for reflection that, I hope, will mark a spiritual exchange of gifts.

Convivium’s publisher and its editor-in-chief are Catholic, and even Catholics who recognize the n...

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Give It Up For Lent

Brian Dijkema

March 1, 2017

Program Director of Cardus Work and Economics Brian Dijkema reflects on the true nature of Lent.

See the money wanna stay/for a meal. Get another piece of pie/for your wife. Everybody wanna know/how it feels. Everybody wanna see/what it’s like.

Ima Robot, Greenback Boogie

You k...

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Lending For The Long Term

Peter Stockland

February 28, 2017

Publisher Peter Stockland sits down with Work and Economics Program Director Brian Dijkema to talk about Pay Day Loans. Hear what Dijkema told Convivium before his testimony to the Queen’s Park Standing Committee on Social Policy.

An Ontario legislature committee studying so-called “pay day loans” heard this week that reforming the rules is necessary, but not enough to help those who need the quick cash most.

Brian Dijkema, program director for Cardus’ Work and Economics, told...

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The Sidewalk View

Gideon Strauss

February 27, 2017

Columnist Gideon Strauss interviews Emile Kutlu, president of the Laurier West Merchant Association in another installment of his Outremont series.

“… for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement …”

Charles Baudelaire

When Emile Kutlu imagines the future of Outremon...

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A Message From Manning

Peter Stockland

February 24, 2017

Publisher Peter Stockland sits down with Dr. Andrew Bennett on the eve of the 2017 Manning Conference.

Andrew Bennett will take his message this weekend to the country’s largest annual conservative gathering but won’t be opining about the Tory leadership or the Trumping of Canada.

The former Canadian ambassador for religious freedom, now program direc...

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Finding Normal

Peter Stockland

February 23, 2017

Publisher Peter Stockland highlights the resonance of the upcoming release World Youth Day Krakow: A Pilgrimage of Mercy.

For Father Jonathan Kalisch, a video reel highlight of last year’s World Youth Day was seeing five young Canadians in a suburban hockey arena.

That’s pretty normal sounding, you say? Well, yes. But what distinguished them from most kids their age was...

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Full Disclosure

T.W.S. Hunt

February 22, 2017

Author T.W.S. Hunt reflects on the true nature of pluralism as a tool to navigate difference within both society and literature.

I wrote a book recently. The first question people ask is what is the book about? I wish I could tell them I wrote a novel. Novelists are like superstars. I’d also have been okay with writing a book about ornithology or moral ecology, something that would m...

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Checking the Selfish Gene

Beth Green

February 21, 2017

Cardus Program Director of Education Beth Green examines a way to inhibit the transmission of the so-called selfish gene in teenagers.

Researchers seem to have found a way to inhibit transmission of the so-called selfish gene in teenagers. Or perhaps they’ve simply found a way to prevent that gene from expressing itself once those teens hit adulthood. With due apologies to Richard Dawkins,...

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Carry On Questioning

Peter Stockland

February 16, 2017

Today Publisher Peter Stockland reflects on the importance of asking honest, essential questions about democratic life.

Prevailing wisdom has it there are no foolish questions. The wisdom’s not only unwise. It’s wrong.

The most foolish, indeed most dangerous, questions are those that affirm popular assumptions rather than demanding their advocates explain them.
...

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Marilynne Robinson’s Metaphysical Inklings

Marilynne Robinson

February 15, 2017

Reporter Sarah Grochowski reports from the University of British Columbia, as Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson delivered spoken essays as part of the 2017 Laing Lectures hosted by Regent College’s graduate school of theology.

Through writer Marilynne Robinson’s voice in Vancouver last week, a lecture series founded from one father’s love of ideas became a meditation on God the Father’s love.

For three days at the University of British Columbia, the Pulitzer Prize winning ...

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Fitting Faith In Common Life

Daniel Proussalidis

February 13, 2017

Following the Convivium Launch Party in the Cardus Ottawa office, Daniel Proussalidis shares how, throughout the evening, the four panelists with different perspectives and backgrounds concluded that faith does indeed have a place in the common life of Canadians.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before:

“A politician, an art gallery curator, a newspaper publisher, and a Jewish activist walk into a think tank office ...”

What sounds like the start of a formulaic joke is actually the beginning of a power...

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Launching Questions

Raymond J. de Souza

February 10, 2017

Editor in Chief Father Raymond J de Souza reflects on the launch of Convivium as an online publication and examines the matter of multiple answers, and questions.

When we planned our launch for the new digital Convivium at our Cardus office in Ottawa, we sought a conversation about how faith plays its part in various aspects of our common life: the arts, the press, politics and the relations between faiths t...

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