BLOG: Life and Family
 I had been explaining some red-flags that I found in the book Final Exit by Derek Humphry (see Part 3, and also Part 2), and ended up talking about relativism: You may not want euthanasia for yourself, but don’t impose your beliefs on someone else, which is the number one flaw with this book, and ...read more
In Part II, I gave a background on the author of the book Final Exit, Mr. Derek Humphry and a bit about the Right-to-Die movement. I do believe that the book is very compelling, but it contains some red flags. Here are some of them: ...read more
Respecting End of Life: Part 2 As many of you know, on May 6, members of the Quebec national assembly voted in favour of Bill 52, the “Act of Respecting End-of-life” making “assisted dying” legal in that province. I recently wrote about that. I had already written a bit about this in the past explaining ...read more
May 6 this year will go down as one of the saddest days in the history of the province of Quebec. On that day, members of the Quebec national assembly voted in favour of Bill 52, the “Act of Respecting End-of-life.” Supporters call it “medical aid in dying”. I call it what it is: Euthanasia. ...read more
  Below is the address given by His Excellency Most Reverend Vincenzo Paglia Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Terni-Narni-Amelia President of the Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Family On the Occasion of the 2014 International Day of Families United Nations Headquarters, New York City May 15, 2014. The Family at the Heart of Human Development The ...read more
How can St. Anthony’s story continue to inspire generations of believers? That was one of many questions I looked into, as I prepared for this latest Catholic Focus. So you know, St. Anthony to this day continues to be one of my favourite Saints in the Church. Besides helping me with lost items (like keys), ...read more
This past week Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna participated in the Leadership Conference at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican parish in the heart of downtown London. Cardinal Schoenborn’s presentation was more of a Question and Answer session with Holy Trinity pastor Nicky Gumbel. He spoke about Christian Unity, Pope Francis, the Conclave, and was also ...read more
A reflection on Isaiah 6:1-2; 3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 and Luke 5:1-11 Tomorrow the Church marks the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, a day that is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Easter, traditionally known as Good Shepherd Sunday. As I reflect on the readings for Good Shepherd Sunday (Acts 13:14,43-52; Revelation 7:9,14-17 ...read more
Eleven years ago, when I was Artistic Director for World Youth Day 2002, one of my responsibilities was the Papal Welcome Ceremony. Fr. Tom Rosica, CSB (who was Director of WYD) had suggested that we include a specific liturgical dance group comprised of people with different abilities, and so began my journey with the L’Arche ...read more
As the week began with news of the 37 foreigners killed during the Algerian gas-plant hostage-taking, I began thinking about what else is happening around the world: Toronto: Court watches video of the death of Ashley Smith. Ashley killed herself in her prison cell while guards looked on from the outside. They say they were ...read more