Cardus

A final report on abuse of children in Portugal’s Catholic Church has revealed more than 4,800 children had been victims of clergy sexual abuse in the country from 1950 to 2022.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was convicted and sentenced by a Nicaraguan court to 26 years in prison Feb. 10 — barely a day after the outspoken prelate defied President Daniel Ortega by refusing to go into exile.

Last December's Christmas tree lightings in many towns and cities in Jerusalem finally pointed to a return toward normalcy for Holy Land pilgrim visits and tourism to Israel following the global pandemic and lockdowns beginning in 2020.

Super Bowl LVII was not short of awe-inspiring moments. Kansas City Chiefs kick returner Kadarius Toney somehow finessed his way around a surrounding wall of charging Philadelphia Eagles defenders to record a punt return of 65 yards, the longest in Super Bowl history. 

On hearing that Montreal Bishop Frank Leo would succeed him as Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins immediately thought of Toronto’s first bishop, Michael Power. At a parish feast day Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes, downtown Toronto, Collins reminded the congregation how Toronto’s first bishop also came from Montreal and was also, as a priest, vicar of English-speaking Montrealers.

A recent UN report on atrocities perpetrated in Pakistan against girls and young women from Christian and other minority faith communities should serve as a wake-up call, and prompt urgent action by the Canadian government, say Canadian activists. 

A Renfrew, Ont., student barred from his Catholic high school for saying there are only two genders, male and female, said he remains undeterred and will continue to stand up for his religious convictions.

Four letters and 26 promises from Canada’s bishops to Indigenous Canadians set an agenda for reconciliation that bishops like Calgary’s Bishop Bill McGrattan intend to act on before February turns into March.

While attending Mass at St. Vital Catholic Church in Winnipeg in 2020, Bisong Taiwo’s cinematic eye was entranced by the lighting of the Stations of the Cross sculptures hanging on the walls. 

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 12 (Year A) Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37

Evading responsibility for human actions is as old as humanity itself. It began in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve pointing fingers at each other, and has continued down to our own time. We like to think of ourselves as helpless victims of forces greater than us and therefore not to blame for our negative actions. It used to be sufficient to blame the devil for everything but now we are more sophisticated.