Michael Charles Desmond (Mike) Doyle
Poet. Teacher. Activist. Father. Born Oct. 18, 1928, in Birmingham, England; died Dec. 28, 2016, in Victoria, of natural causes; aged 88. …
Local Blues Saint Worked with the Mentally Challenged
Mention the name of John Fisher — a.k.a. Victoria’s Godfather of the Blues — and one subject always comes up. The…
New Biography, “Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty”
This is a beautifully written, deeply revealing, and spiritually insightful book; and I can’t begrudge the author for an instant that it is…
Key Movements of Our Times, Shaped and Started by Women
There is a perception that until our times the female half of the human race was silent, unqualified and shut out of public…
Birth Control Contretemps Drove Many Away from the Church’s Dishonesty
The literal interpretation of Scripture was broadly accepted throughout Christendom. Infallibility was like an insurance policy against dissent. If he acknowledged that the…
John Shields: Spiritual Innovator and Good Friend
When John Shields died last month, I felt as though I had lost not only a good friend but also a trusted and…
John Shields Memorial Gave Ample Witness to ‘A Big Life’
Rarely are accurate, personal portraits of a deceased person heard at Memorials. There is simply too much emotional baggage carried by family and…
Living Ethically in Face of Death: Probing Some Deeper Questions
On June 5, 2014, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 52, also known as “An Act respecting end-of-life care”. The Act allows…
Comox Catholic Hospital Expansion Highlights Assisted-Dying Issue
The planned expansion of the Comox Valley’s hospice beds has sparked a heated debate about medical assistance in dying, which isn’t allowed…
BC Pro-poverty Policy is ‘Sickening’ and Costly
Last week, my students were discussing public-health ethics. One group pointed out, correctly, that doing nothing is a policy decision. What,…