Eulogy for My Wife Joan Ann Schmidt – Dec 20, 2022
John Dickie plays Tears tears and more tears a Lee Dorsey written by Alan Toussaint in 1969. How appropriate to open this eulogy with music,…
Roy Bourgeois, Male Supremacy in the Catholic Church
In 2008 Roy Bourgeois a Maryknoll priest for 40 years, Vietnam veteran, Purple Heart recipient and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee — did the unspeakable.…
Catholic Paradigm Shift: 10 Years of Pope Francis Dismantling the Papal Court
Just months after his election in 2013, Pope Francis announced he would break with 400 years of tradition and would no longer spend summer holidays…
The Way Forward for a Troubled Church
In past columns, I have centred on the faults and serious limitations of the institutional Church. The most egregious of these in my opinion is…
Understanding Jean Vanier — A Wounded Healer
In 2020, this newspaper reviewed the original 2020 “L’Arche Report” alleging that Jean Vanier had sexually abused whom he was accompanying on their spiritual journey.…
Elevation Misplaced
When I first heard about Jean Vanier’s accusations from women who claimed sexual abuse, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and reading. Surely this…
Major L’Arche Report Leaves Vanier Reputation in Tatters
At least 25 women were abused over nearly seven decades by Jean Vanier, the Canadian co-founder of L’Arche, a global organization for the intellectually disabled,…
L’Arche Worries After Vanier Revelations
INTRODUCTION By Patrick Jamieson One of our board members at ICN is from Ottawa where I have lived for a number of distinct periods: first…
My Sisters and Brothers
Sister, brothers all creation has its eye on us, is watching. Each blade, ev’ry tree, the peachbloom on its stem, ev’ry star that twins itself…
Paths to Forgiveness — Easter Confessions: An Evolving Process
As a child, growing up in a small parish in rural Ontario, I recall the confessional line-up to make one’s “Easter Duty”. Most Catholics, in…