How early does a fetus become a baby become a human being? Our politicians may be loath to debate it, but it seems even our hospitals need more work to get their nomenclature straight. Contradictory practices within single hospitals cannot … Continue reading →

Rex Murphy makes the point in the first issue of Convivium magazine that we should all breath deep and turn down the rhetorical heat way down. Murphy, famous for his acerbic commentaries on CBC Radio and TV as well as … Continue reading →

In the first part of this series on “God for Artists and Artists for God” I suggested that the nature and purpose of art and the vocation of the artist is one that is given by God and is justified … Continue reading →

The talk about last month’s move of the Electro-Motive Diesel plant from London (Ontario) to the United States reveals much about the way we treat economics in Ontario and in Canada. Some see the plant’s closure as just another example … Continue reading →

A few weeks back President Obama announced, and a few days later backtracked on, a policy requiring employers to pay for sterilization services and contraception (including the ‘morning-after’ pill considered by many pro-lifers to be a form of abortion) as … Continue reading →

I blogged here recently about the way small magazines are challenging the pusillanimous acquiescence of mainstream media before the Internet onslaught. My post should have acknowledged that some of the big boys of print aren’t going down without a fight, … Continue reading →

Among the annoying foibles of our era is the tendency to forget the lessons of history. Even more annoying, however, is misusing them. Last week, the CRTC denied a request from Crossroads Television Systems (CTS) to amend its licence. Currently, … Continue reading →

We don’t prize artists like we prize scientists. Or, so it seems for much of society, and for much of the church. It seems that art is expression, but science is knowledge—expression is fun and all, and occasionally worthy of … Continue reading →

The Vatican is caught between the rock of the rich and the hard place of the poor, and between the work of theology and political advocacy. Its calls for global financial reform are taking on starker, more particular tones, to … Continue reading →

Canada’s unions are in trouble, but what is to be done? A discussion paper released by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and the Communications Energy and Paper Workers (CEP) suggests that unions are “fac[ing] an enormous and historic moment of … Continue reading →