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Stories about Easter and Passover:

Some may scoff, but they can't deny the season of resurrection
It is not by accident that the Christian celebration of sacrifice and resurrection coincides with the beginning of the season in which life emerges again from the apparent death that winter represents.
Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun, April 10

Flocks fill Little Italy to see Jesus
A whip snaps, a centurion bellows and Jesus flinches. This would be -- I think -- the fifth Station of the Cross depicting the Passion of Jesus en route to crucifixion: A suffering or enduring of pain.
Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, April 11

Blessed Teresa
The Lenten weeks that precede Easter Sunday are intended to be times of fasting, prayer and alms-giving. Prayer is always difficult; and fasting may increasingly be dictated by economics. But it is alms-giving on which I wish to focus, specifically on one of the most active alms-givers the world has ever known, namely Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Ian Hunter, National Post, April 11

Seder night for all at Habonim
It's Seder night and the two women are sitting in the lobby at Congregation Habonim -- an egalitarian and liberal synagogue founded 50 years ago by Holocaust survivors. Ms. Marcus is Jewish and this is her fourth year attending the communal Seder at Habonim. "If I didn't come here, I wouldn't have anywhere to go on Passover," she says. But Ms. Novak isn't Jewish. And neither is Virginia Gill, who is sitting across from them.
Lisa Urbach, National Post, April 11

At the heart of Easter is the mystical Jesus
Without Mary Magdalene's vision at the tomb, the Easter story as we know it would not exist
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, April 11

Canadian bishop celebrates Easter mass on the Kandahar airbase
There is a bridge to be built between the life of Christ and those of the Canadian soldiers posted in Afghanistan, says Donald Theriault, the Catholic bishop who heads the Military Ordinariate of Canada. "Both have a mission to accomplish," he told The Canadian Press after his first Easter service in Kandahar.
Canadian Press, April 12

Without coercion
It is Easter. The custom among Christians has ever been to observe this as the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord. Not quite all Christians: for I know several strict Calvinists of the Westminster Confession, who reject both Christmas and Easter as pagan celebrations. God bless them, they are fine people, and my brethren, even if separated from me by more schisms than I can count.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, April 12

Earlier: Stories about Passover and Easter

Stories about the residential schools:

Residential school survivors granted audience with the Pope
A delegation of residential school survivors has been granted a rare private audience with the Pope in the Vatican, fuelling hope that Benedict XVI will apologize for abuse in institutions run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations.
Globe and Mail, April 14

Pope will reach out to natives in Canada
Pope Benedict XVI will express regret to Canada's aboriginal peoples this month for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the abuse of thousands of children in residential schools, says the leader of the Assembly of First Nations.
La Presse, April 15

Pope to acknowledge suffering at residential schools
Pope Benedict is expected to acknowledge the suffering of aboriginals at residential schools when he meets with a delegation of survivors later this month in Rome. Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and Archbishop James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, will lead the group when they meet with the Pope on April 29.
Canadian Press, April 15

Earlier: Stories about the residential schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Stories about Sikhs and Sikhism:

White by birth, Sikh by choice
Quest for enlightenment led from United Church to yoga and ashrams
Toronto Star, April 11

Surrey, Vancouver celebrate Vaisakhi
Special day includes music and prayer to mark creation of a distinct identity for Sikhs
Vancouver Sun, April 13

Sikh teen acquitted of kirpan assault
In a case that threatens to once again thrust Quebec's uneasy accommodation of religious minorities into the spotlight, a judge has hinted that nationality indeed played a role in a 13-year-old Sikh boy being charged with brandishing his ceremonial dagger in a dispute with some schoolmates.
Toronto Star, April 16

Earlier: Stories about the Sikh boy charged with misusing a kirpan

Stories about same-sex marriage:

A remarkable week for gay rights
About a third of Americans now live in states that offer some recognition of same-sex couples
Globe and Mail, April 9

Gay marriage rulings set U.S. on road to legal mayhem
Courts and referenda have created a confusing and contradictory legal patchwork governing gay unions. A color-coded map illustrating the status quo would require every color in the gay-rights rainbow to account for all the statutory and constitutional variations.
David Frum, Full Comment, National Post, April 13

Stories about Ezra Levant's Shakedown:

Laying siege to the human-rights industry
The publisher can't keep up with demand for Ezra Levant's book Shakedown, which appeared last week with a foreword by Mark Steyn. The slim volume is like an open whaling boat in which Levant sets out to harpoon Canada's Leviathan of a "human rights" industry.
George Jonas, National Post, April 11

Our Kangaroo Court
In Canada, we don't burn heretics. We simply subject them to the ravages of one of our 14 Human Rights Commissions (HRCs), arguably a crueller fate. In Shakedown, Ezra Levant has summoned his considerable polemical energy to expose the farcical and parlous state of our HRCs.
Patrick Keeney, National Post, April 11

Earlier: Stories about Ezra Levant's Shakedown

Stories about Islam and the West:

Canadian soldier leads Islamic prayers
Capt. Amir ElMasri, 29, of 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, said he never thought he would have led some 40 religious ceremonies during his tour of duty in the war-ravaged country. Muslims on the coalition base - mostly expatriate civilian workers - were looking for someone fluent in English and Arabic to head their prayer services.
Canadian Press, April 10

The darkest brand of 'honour'
The great problem, for anyone attempting to eliminate this crime, is its status at the moral centre of many Muslim males. While some Muslims claim it's a vestige of pre-Islamic societies, it's now become ingrained in many corners of Islamic culture.
Robert Fulford, National Post, April 11

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

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Other stories from the past week:

'The Bible is no longer considered part of the conversation'
The Bible was once a cultural reference point, but now Christian scriptures are excluded from public discourse
Globe and Mail, April 10

Tories mum in dispute on Dead Sea Scrolls
The Conservative government is staying mum on a letter from senior Palestinian officials opposing a planned exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Toronto Star, April 10

Fighting the 'good news' fight
The popularity of Christianity may be down from its peak -- but it can still draw a crowd
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, April 10

The Pope's annus horribilis
This month, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the fourth anniversary of his election as the vicar of Christ. It is not the cruellest month of his pontificate - there are many others that can qualify for that designation - but it will undoubtedly be an occasion to reflect on what has transpired since the last anniversary. In great measure, that will have to be a melancholy exercise.
Michael Higgins, Globe and Mail, April 10

A man at ease with his God
Archbishop Thomas Collins, mitre firmly set on his head, his shepherd's staff in hand, dressed in the formal vestments of Catholic authority, strides through the centre isle of St. Michael's Cathedral at the start of a Sunday-evening service.
National Post, April 11

Canadians remain divided on evolution
Some starting to accept a mix of theories, poll finds, while 31 per cent believe in 'spiritual force'
CanWest News Service, April 11
Earlier: Stories about the evolution debate

You'd have to rethink many, many things
Tony Blair chose the week before Easter to take on the Pope. In an interview with the gay magazine Attitude, he called for the Roman Catholic Church to rethink its position on homosexuality, claiming that the institution is out of step with the community it serves: "If you went and asked the congregation, I think you'd find that their faith is not to be found in those types of entrenched attitudes." Which seems a bit ungrateful, given that the holy Church, only two years ago, granted him access to the communion of saints. He attended Mass for 27 years before converting (six months after he stepped down as prime minister), and has had all of his children baptized as Catholics. It's safe to say he knew the club he was joining. Their position on homosexuality is hardly ambiguous.
Stephen Marche, National Post, April 11

Their Jesus Years
Why 33-year-olds feel the need to compare themselves to God's son
Adam McDowell, National Post, April 11

Guilty feelings got you down? Forgive everyone
Forgiveness is still valued in our culture, but we are growing more confused about it
Wilfred McClay, Vancouver Sun, April 13

Is community achievable in B.C. and the Pacific Northwest?
We are a freedom-loving, tolerant and individualistic bunch in B.C., Washington and Oregon. Compared to people in other regions of North America, most of us steer away from joining communities and institutions, especially religious and spiritual ones. Our do-your-own thing culture is a challenge for community life in the Pacific Northwest, also known as Cascadia. How do we create strong, healthy communities when so many people just want to be left alone, have a fun time and go for a walk in the park?
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, April 13

Quebec man to fight in high court for right to have big cross on his land
A Quebec man is preparing to go to Quebec Superior Court to prevent a town council from forcing him to remove a six-metre-tall steel cross he erected on his property in St. Cuthbert three years ago to thank God for saving his life when he was battling cancer. The council says it is too close to the road, but Jean-Marc Gregoire, who intends to invoke his freedom of religion in court, believes he has God on his side.
CanWest News Service, April 14

The Crown is not Britain's alone
The argument for change is, in other words, purely political. Brown is eyeballing our constitution -- the one to which he, and we, are mutually subject --as a means of signalling that sexism and prejudice against Catholic leadership, even in the most vestigial, symbolic forms, are particularly keen outrages against justice. They cannot be allowed to endure even as ghosts, and certainly not as tacit acknowledgments that the British scheme of government has, by and large, provided happiness to its subjects and promoted decency and civilization.
Colby Cosh, National Post, April 14

Private school loyalty defies poor economy
Somewhat paradoxically, the report found that those parents most determined to keep their kids in private school often earn the least. Ms. Van Pelt's study distinguished between parents who send their children to religiously defined private schools and those who send their children to academically based schools. Of the 93 families surveyed with household incomes of $59,000 or less, 90% had children in religiously defined schools.
National Post, April 15

Convicted ex-wife killer Colin Thatcher's memoir on book shelves this fall
An independent publisher expects to have a book by convicted ex-wife killer Colin Thatcher on store shelves this fall. The 440-page true-crime memoir is titled "Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame."
Canadian Press, April 15
Earlier: Stories about Colin Thatcher

Canada's human-rights message for Beijing
This week, the government of Canada is conducting a trade mission to China, led by Trade Minister Stockwell Day. Here is what we suggest Minister Day and the trade mission do while they are there.
David Matas and David Kilgour, National Post, April 15
Earlier: Kilgour urges boycott of Beijing Olympics

Ousted Catholic trustee must pay $46,000 legal costs
Oliver Carroll has been ordered to pay almost $50,000 in costs arising from the conflict of interest case that ousted him from the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Toronto Star, April 16
Earlier: Stories about the Toronto Catholic school board

Laughing with the saints
The late Pope John Paul II used to call the late Cardinal John O'Connor, eighth Archbishop of New York, the "archbishop of the capital of the world." In strict Catholic protocol, all dioceses are more or less equal, so that in principle, the Archdiocese of New York ranks no higher than, say, my own home Archdiocese of Kingston, Ont. And yet in practice, rather than protocol, New York is a unique centre of English-speaking Catholicism, and St. Patrick's Cathedral is the mother church of the United States.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, April 16

Hallelujah! We have risen to the playoffs and redemption is nigh
In the past few days, the atmosphere in Vancouver has reminded me of being in Rome a few years ago to write about millions of excited, faithful people taking part in mass events while Vatican cardinals elected a new pope. A similar religious passion has seized Vancouver. Millions of enthusiastic pilgrims in adoration of their sacred heroes. Journalists are writing that British Columbians are being given a glimpse of paradise. Hockey paradise.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, April 16

April 16/2009