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Stories about Sister Carmelina Tarantino:

Spiritual Ministrations
Today at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Toronto, 2,000 people will pray to the heavens that an old friend will get to take her place among the pantheon of Catholics long departed. If those who are behind the cause of Sister Carmelina Tarantino, an Italian immigrant who died in 1992 at the age of 55, are successful, she will become the first saint ever from the city.
National Post, March 21

First step for Toronto 'saint'
Thousands pack church as archdiocese launches Vatican-sanctioned inquiry into nun's life
Toronto Star, March 22

Stories about science minister Gary Goodyear:

Science is my job - faith is my rock
This week, when Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, declined to discuss his Christian beliefs in the face of accusations that they were influencing his work, the fallout cast new light on the challenges of religious individuals who work in science fields: How do they reconcile their professional passions with their belief in God?
Globe and Mail, March 20

Does Canada's science minister really see the evolutionary light?
Does Gary Goodyear really get this evolution thing? . . . Does he really think the human species is changing generation by generation to be better able to walk in high heels?
Arne Mooers and Dolph Schluter, Globe and Mail, March 20

Darwin's two-for-one deal
Evolution is a fact. And it's a theory. It's that 'and' that contributed to the origins of science minister Gary Goodyear's troubles
T. Ryan Gregory, Globe and Mail, March 26

Earlier: The science minister's faith

Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy trial:

First decriminalization, then plural marriages
British Columbia has charged two fundamentalist Mormon men with violating the Criminal Code provision against polygamy. The defendants will argue "God made me do it," claiming their practice of polygamy is part of the religious freedom guaranteed by Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But the Charter also says all rights are subject "to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."
Tom Flanagan, Globe and Mail, March 23

Ottawa girds for polygamy challenge
The Harper government is prepared to defend the constitutionality of Canada's criminal ban against polygamy, arguing the practice represents a "clear challenge" to Canadian values, newly released federal documents show. In January, the RCMP charged Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler, two prominent members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, B. C., with practising polygamy.
Canwest News Service, March 25

Earlier: Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy trial

Stories about George Galloway and anti-Semitism:

British MP vows legal action after being barred from Canada
The decision to bar Mr. Galloway from Canada led the NDP to accuse the Conservatives of censorship, but was applauded by two of Canada's large Jewish community groups. The British MP, meanwhile, promised to challenge it in Canadian courts.
Globe and Mail, March 20

Jewish group proud of role in barring Galloway
The Jewish Defence League of Canada is taking credit for lighting the spark that ultimately burned a British politician's plans to enter the country. The organization advised the federal government early last week about the impending speaking tour of George Galloway, the controversial British MP who has been a bitter critic of Israel.
Canadian Press, March 25

Earlier: Stories about anti-Semitism

Stories about Islam and the West:

What doesn't kill us
The e-mail came while I was watching a news report on the U.S. President's address to Iran. A reader wanted to know how contemporary historians could miss so completely the conflict between the Islamic and non-Islamic world.
George Jonas, National Post, March 21

India watches anti-Muslim signs as election nears
Despite boast that country is a firmly secular state, the reality is that a deep religious divide exists
Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun, March 24

Earlier: Stories about Islam, anti-Semitism and the West

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Other stories from the past week:

Pagans welcome goddess of spring
To Wiccans, the vernal equinox is about more than stargazing. Known as Eostre, or the more colloquial Lady Day, it is a religious occasion of mid-level importance.
Toronto Star, March 20

Darwin on the half-shell
So, on the terms of debate offered by critics of Darwin, it would be a serious blow to the creationist alternative if a pre-turtle were found. Which is what happened last year in southern China, as reported in a November edition of Nature: A 220-million-year-old transitional form of the turtle turned up, refuting the plated-ancestor hypothesis and confirming that the first turtles, who were probably aquatic, developed the hard plastron on their underbellies first to protect them from below. Yet the turtle page on Answers In Genesis, with its ill-advised doubling down on the Old Testament God, can still be found.
Colby Cosh, National Post, March 20
Earlier: Stories about evolution

Childhood's stolen innocence
Judgment passed on church for not notifying authorities of member's sexual assaults
Vancouver Sun, March 21

Tree of Life to light up the entrance at Christ Church Cathedral
A final gift from Jean Southam, the window was designed by Musqueam artist Susan Point
Vancouver Sun, March 21

Ending secret Swiss bank scams -- the world could use the trillions
The buzz in Britain this week is over ending one of the biggest ethical problems of the past century. Efforts are being made to shut down the secret Swiss and other national bank accounts where trillions of dollars are illicitly hidden from tax authorities and police.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, March 21

Shamanism
I used the S-word in a column last week ("shamanism"), and received from my readers so many puzzled queries that I will now try to explain myself further. I said, alike of the post-Christian, self-styled "middle class" in the West, and of the post-Islamic "middle class" in such a country as Pakistan, that they are animated by "a touching faith, at its roots shamanistic."
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, March 22

Doubts about faith in advisor
A Canadian man, accused of bilking a small Christian sect in Israel out of more than $1-million, allegedly lost most of the church's money in risky investments before sending the rest to a bank account in Toronto. Hani Mattar, however, insists he is the real victim in the scheme -- used as a pawn by a monastery priest who then pointed the finger at him to hide his swindle of his own church.
National Post, March 23

Bosnian Bishop calls his flock home
When Bishop Franjo Komarica looks out at his congregation in the northwestern region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, he feels a sense of dread. In Banja Luka, the largest city in the region, only about 200 of the Roman Catholic faithful show up for Sunday morning Mass at the cathedral, instead of the 800 that used to be the norm before a three-year war that ended in 1996.
National Post, March 23

New rules will heat Conrad Black's seat in the House of Lords
The former Canadian newspaper baron has a knack for breaking new and controversial ground in finance, politics and law. This time the U.S.-jailed ex-media magnate will be a test case of the ancient rules of the British House of Lords.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, March 23

Students plugged in to green initiatives
In the countdown to Earth Hour, the Star is asking organizations and companies what they're doing for the environment. Today: York Catholic District School Board.
Toronto Star, March 24

Annunciation
Four weeks into the 40 days of Lent and we -- Roman Catholics and most other Christians working from the western or Gregorian calendar -- have something to celebrate. It is called the Annunciation of Mary; it is set, naturally, on the date nine months prior to Christmas.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, March 25

Evangelicals promoted to top jobs by Stephen Harper
The former head of Focus on the Family in Canada and another evangelical affiliated with Trinity Western University have been named key advisers to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, March 25

March 26/2009