Island Catholic News

I met Fr. Bill Wilson, SJ in Vancouver this past spring. I enjoyed a visit, after a church service, with him and my friend. Recently he sent a copy of his new book, Homilies For The Seasons to the ICN editor. We have been reading the homilies each Sunday for advent and Christmas. After reading […]

Eileen Curteis, SSA: 1942 – 2026

Obituaries

Eileen was born on July 20th, 1942 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria, BC. She was welcomed into a loving home by her mother and father, Tom and Lil Curteis, and her mischievous but good brother, Charlie, whom she later in life called Chuck. Eileen’s memory of her mother was that of a kind woman […]

Sister Doreen Trautman, SSA

Obituaries

Sister Doreen Trautman, SSA was born on July 16, 1932, in Camrose Alberta, and died peacefully at Mount St. Mary Hospital on September 28, 2025. Doreen was the second child of Leonard and Victoria (Hewko) Trautman. Doreen graduated from St. Ann’s Academy, New Westminster, BC in 1950 and entered the Sisters of St. Ann. She […]

Pope Leo and Trump are Bound to Clash

Other Features

With Pope Leo XIV and U.S. President Donald Trump on a potential collision course, the future promises more than a modicum of upheaval. There has never before been an American pontiff and there has never been an American president so shamelessly totalitarian in instinct and behaviour. The Vatican has been here before. In 1925, Georgy […]

Implications of Selling Uranium To India

Other Features

Every so often, Canada arrives at a moment when foreign policy, ethics and national interest intersect. The pending $3.94-billion sale of Canadian uranium to India is one of those moments – though we seem inclined to move past it with minimal reflection. India is not a routine customer. It is a nuclear-armed state that has […]

An Interview With ChatGPT About AI and The Dignity of The Person

Other Features

Q: Pope Francis stated in 2021, “The dignity of the person does not come from money, it does not come from the things one knows, it comes from work. Work is an anointing of dignity. Whoever does not work is not worthy.” Artificial Intelligence in its various forms seems like a threat to employment and […]

Eileen Curteis As I Knew Her – A Reflection

Reflection

I knew Sister of St. Ann Eileen Curteis primarily as a poet. Initially at the Diocesan Synod Arts Festival in the late 1980s at Queenswood. Queenswood was where she successfully practiced and taught Reiki healing. Rumour was that Reiki was what kept Queenswood booming, drawing hundreds of practitioners to the retreat centre when others such […]

Does The Christian Left Have a Future

Other Features

Gregory Baum in his little but important essay “Religion and Socialism” published in his collection of essays The Social Imperative: Essays on the Critical Issues that Confront the Christian Churches (Toronto: Paulist Press, 1979) pp.168-183, spoke of ‘Ginger Groups’ which referred to a time when the ‘social gospel’ was alive and well in Canada when Christian […]

Why Socialism

Other Features

Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism? I believe for a number of reasons that it is. Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It might appear that there are no essential […]

A New Oilsands Pipeline? What Politicians Won’t Admit

Other Features

Lo and behold, Prime Minister Mark Carney, a global banker, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, a petro-populist à la Donald Trump, have big energy plans for Canadians. The two now support an undefined bitumen pipeline project from Alberta to British Columbia’s northwest coast, claiming it will bring economic glory and growth for a troubled nation. […]

Fascinating to Watch

Other Features

As a Canadian Catholic, I find it fascinating to watch the leadership unfold of Pope Leo XIV and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who each assumed office in the early part of 2025. Now, as the year draws to a close, it is possible to discern how each leader approaches the core problem in the world […]

The Nazorean: How a Jewish Wisdom Sect Gave Birth to the Church – A Reflection

Main Feature

Setting the context: Some months ago, Pat Jamieson, the editor of this publication and a figure known to me for some 34 years, asked if I would be kind enough to review a book by Kem Luther. (And yes, it’s Kem, and not Ken, it’s no typo.) After he provided me with a bit of […]

Spiritual Rebirth

Poetry

Say to your overloaded brain if words become nails then it’s time to find your oasis. Time to loosen the knot and unchain the chain time for clogged mind to travel lightly. Be Wise about your future the road you determine where you’re […]

Sisters of Saint Anne – Sister Eileen

Obituaries

Sister Eileen had a profound impact on my life. She was among my new friends of Sisters of Saint Anne. I attended a couple of her poetry readings which spoke to my heart. I could relate to many of her poems. Her voice was comforting and easy to listen to, bringing life to the pictures […]

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