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Stories about the Pope's apology for residential school abuse>:

Pope sorry for abuse at native Canadian schools
Pope Benedict XVI apologized Wednesday to native Canadians who were physically and sexually abused at church-run boarding schools they were forced to attend, saying he was sorry for their anguish and was praying they would heal.
Associated Press, April 29

Pope expresses sorrow for residential-school abuse
The Pope expressed sorrow on behalf of the Catholic Church for the "deplorable conduct" of some of its members at Canada's Indian residential schools during a private, half-hour meeting at the Vatican with Canadian bishops and native leaders. The Canadian representatives described the expression of sorrow as an apology, even though that exact word does not appear in the Vatican's public statement.
Globe and Mail, April 29

Pope's statement of remorse pleases native leader
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said it was a "significant gesture" Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the suffering of thousands of aboriginal Canadians in residential schools run by the Roman Catholic Church.
CanWest News Service, April 30

Earlier: Pope's invitation could be important catalyst for reconciliation

Stories about the documentary Act of God:

Baichwal finds meaning and randomness in lightning film, 'Act of God'
Central to Baichwal's approach are questions of chance, fate and mortality. "Act of God," steers clear of any scientific explanations behind the sometimes deadly phenomenon, focusing instead on the metaphysical. Baichwal calls it "an anti-science film about lightning."
Canadian Press, April 28

Weatherproof
To that end, she interviewed people in six countries, including a French stormchaser, American author Paul Auster, another man who had a change of faith after lightning struck him, another still grappling with the childhood death of a friend in a storm and the residents of a small Mexican town in which five children were killed by lightning while praying. Loosely uniting these tales is Fred Frith, a guitar improviser, illustrating the electrical nature of the brain, and how our very thoughts are akin to tiny lightning strikes in the cerebral cortex.
National Post, April 29

Documentaries that challenge orthodoxy
There's no getting away from metaphysical questions about the meaning of life when she talks to an ex-Marine who had a spiritual reawakening as a result of being declared clinically dead for 28 minutes after being struck by lightning through the telephone. The experiences aren't all beneficial. Baichwal interviews one man who describes how lightning killed his friend by literally cooking him from the inside.
Vancouver Sun, April 29

Stories about the politics of homosexuality:

Liberal candidate accused of homophobia
The NDP's Spencer Herbert calls for the resignation of Maple Ridge-Mission hopeful Marc Dalton for saying homosexuality is a moral issue
Vancouver Sun, April 25

NDP says it's shameful that Alberta is the last province to enshrine gay rights
But there's a controversial twist to the legislation being used by Alberta's Progressive Conservative government to settle this longstanding battle over gay rights. The legislation will give parents the right to exclude their kids from parts of the education curriculum that they don't agree with, including anything to do with same-sex relationships. Premier Ed Stelmach concedes this opting-out provision could be used for classes dealing with evolution if parents preferred their kids be taught what's in the bible instead.
Canadian Press, April 28

Stories about Islam and the West:

Turning a blind eye to Muslim-on-Muslim murder
This afternoon, I would like to shed some light on two genocides -- one happened in 1970-71 in what is now Bangladesh; and the other that continues as I speak in the Darfur region of Sudan. In both instances, the root of the problem lay with one group of Muslims feeling they were racially superior to their victims, who also happened to be Muslim. In both cases, the doctrine of racial superiority and the practice of institutional racism went unchallenged, even after the horrible consequences of such racism were evident and for all to see.
Tarek Fatah, Full Comment, National Post, April 28

Mommy blows up with toddler -- this has got to be a new low for militant Islam
Even putting aside our baseline revulsion at terrorism, there are three especially hideous things that jump out from this.
Jonathan Kay, Full Comment, National Post, April 28

New levels of evil, and apathy, when Mommy's a suicide bomber
Though it's often hard to tell, Islam, Judaism and Christianity all arise from the same Abrahamic roots. And those familiar with Genesis 22 will know that the God Abraham served had well-expressed views on filicide. How, I wonder, do you say "Lay not thine hand upon the lad" in Arabic?
Jonathan Kay, Full Comment, National Post, April 30

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

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Other stories from the past week:

Who cares less about global warming?
The headline sounds flip, but it's asking a serious question. Which cohort of people in North America worries the least that pollution is causing the planet to heat up?
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, April 23

Read award-winning story on assisted suicide researcher
Vancouver Sun ethics and spirituality writer Douglas Todd has won the top award for education coverage from the Canadian Association of University Teachers. The $1,000 award is for an extensive feature Todd wrote about the academic and emotional struggles of B.C. assisted-suicide researcher Russel Ogden, of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, April 25
Earlier: Stories about assisted suicide and the vote in Washington

Taber shooting scars run deep despite decade of healing
Belly to the floor, Brian Emes glanced over and saw his two friends lying bloodied in the high school hallway. Moments earlier, the three pals were hurrying to class, debating whether the late-April snow would cause their soccer game to be cancelled that night. Then, a flash of light, a spray of bullets. Jason Lang was struck by a .22-calibre slug. Another round hit Shane Christmas's stomach. Only Emes escaped unscathed.
Calgary Herald, April 26
Earlier: Dale Lang found freedom through forgiveness

Canadian Forces chaplain has had emotional start to tour of duty in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has never been a very hospitable place where women were concerned, but the start of Maj. Martine Belanger's tour of duty has been even more difficult than most. The Catholic lay chaplain has become a familiar face at Kandahar Airfield after she presided recently over ramp ceremonies for Canada's two latest fallen soldiers, both of them women.
Canadian Press, April 27

Religious gatherings trigger neighbourhood feud
That the gatherings are of a religious nature -- in this case, Sikh prayers -- puts the neighbourhood dispute in the middle of a bigger discussion about where places of worship fit into a city with serious growing pains, expensive land and large faith communities.
Toronto Star, April 27

Why are East Asians not into religion?
If you ever wondered why more than 35 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents say they have "no religion," you can find one of the answers in our high proportion of East-Asian immigrants. . . . Only 21 per cent of East-Asian immigrants described themselves as religious in a recent Statistic Canada survey titled "Who's Religious?"
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, April 27

High-flying charity grounded
The audit of the Universal Aide Society also slammed the charity's relief shipment brokering scheme and it named other charities that participated but are still operating. . . . Matt Panos, an executive with a U.S. charity that used to work with Universal Aide, said his Arizona-based organization, Food for the Hungry, stopped partnering with the Canadian charity after "irregularities" surfaced in 2005.
Toronto Star, April 28

Celebrating Darwin ... sort of
Where we theists get off, however, is at the third level of Darwinism, the level of "myth." It's one thing to believe in microevolution and macroevolution. Both of those levels, to be clear, are zones of scientific investigation and disputation. But at the third level -- where Darwinism becomes "The Theory of Everything" -- we leave the realm of science entirely. Darwinism now functions as a religion, as an all-encompassing worldview and as a "myth" in the anthropological sense -- the governing story of a people. It is no longer a scientific theory.
John G. Stackhouse, Holy Post, National Post, April 28
Earlier: Stories about the evolution debate

U Of T Honours Jewish Social Club
The Primrose Club was originally founded in 1907 as a Jewish men's society and called the Cosmopolitan Society. In 1920, it purchased the property at 41 Willcocks St. near Spadina and College streets, where many Jewish immigrants had settled. In 1959, the club turned the estate over to an expanding University of Toronto for $1, and moved to a new location on St. Clair Avenue West.
National Post, April 29

Religion supports violence
Of course Islam supports violence -- in certain circumstances. So does Sikhism. So do Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and pretty much every other religion with a large following. Human beings typically resort to violence in particular circumstances, and any religion that is going to attract a wide allegiance will have to sanction at least some of that violence, at least in defence of the believing community.
John G. Stackhouse, Holy Post, National Post, April 30

Off liberty
What exactly are those conservative values? I think we all instinctively recognize them when we see them, although it is sometimes difficult to define them. I like to summarize my idea of conservatism in three "Fs" -- freedom, family and faith.
Stephen Harper, National Post, April 30

Life on the page
A few years back, a professor's widow donated various things to our Catholic chaplaincy at Queen's University. There was a piano, some furniture and an old, handsome desk. While rummaging around, waiting for men stronger than I to do the heavy lifting, I came across another treasure: A box of old newspapers recording historic events. I sat down to read; the others did the moving.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, April 30

Sex, violence and old-time religion
Richard Strauss's Salome touches all the bases of post-Wagnerian opera
David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun, April 30

April 30/2009