By Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News
At the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada’s triennial synod July 12-16, bis...
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By Malin Jordan
Sister Mary Donne Davidson, OSC, made her first profession of vows in the Order of St. Clare, or Poor Clares, during ...
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The B.C. Catholic’s electronic media are now boldly going where no B.C. Catholic has gone before.
We’ve launched a new beta site ...
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Op-Ed
Administrator - Friday, 23 July 2010
By Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo
The world is quickly becoming aware of the remarkable increase in the number of Muslims in the European Union, North America, Australia, and many developed nations. Originally welcomed as immigrants mainly to perform jobs that the white ethnic groups of these countries would rather avoid, their fertility rate is higher than that of the host country’s native...
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| Father Anthony Ho - Monday, 19 July 2010
澳洲聖女——苦架瑪利亞
我們探索過獻身中國傳教事業的真福亞松大Bl. Assunta修女，和印度小花——聖雅芳莎St. Alphonsa修女。今天，我們遠渡重洋，來到澳大利亞，一談真福瑪利亞.麥琦珞Bl. Mary MacKillop (1842-1909) ；當地奉八月八日為她的慶日，而教宗本篤十六世將於本年十月十七日把她宣聖。
澳洲女修會的鼻祖
一八四二年一月十五日，瑪利亞.麥琦珞出生於澳大利亞的墨爾本Melbourne，父親熱心、良善，育有八名子女。由於家境中落，瑪利亞作為長女，需要工作以幫補家計，曾當家庭女教師、店務作理員和學校老師。
在顰諾拿Penola教學時，巧遇儒利安.桓達信Fr. Julian Tenison Woods神父，兩人不謀而合地認為，應該在當地為貧童提供教育，與及創辦一個女修會。一八六六年，他們合作籌創了名為「聖心的聖匠女修會」Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart，簡稱「聖匠修女Josephites」。
修女們與大眾一起過着清貧的生活。澳大利亞人口散居，聖匠修女們於是分散成小組，群居各處。為消弭當時社會普遍性的偏見，修女們努力爭取公義平等。在修會內則人人平等，有別於歐洲分等級的女修會（「歌詠修女choir nuns」來自富裕家庭，「平民修女lay sisters」來自低下階層）。
另外，聖匠修女們提供教育、探訪病弱和囚犯，為耆英和流浪者供給食宿。
在真福瑪利亞領導下，一八六九年終，修會有七十二名修女，承辦着二十一所學校；而作為會祖，瑪利亞經常與她的修女們通信，鼓勵她們的聖召，誘導她們如何切合修會的生活。
忍耐和寬恕
瑪利亞的道名為「苦架瑪利亞Mary of the Cross」，她的生命果真佈滿十字架，來自周圍的人脈和自己潺弱的身體，給她很大的考驗。
桓達信神父雖年青、聰明和有創意，畢竟逃不過人性的謬誤，為瑪利亞和修女們增添了不少麻煩。面對桓神父的異見及對立，真福常為他說好話。桓神父臨終前，瑪利亞修女探望和安慰他，更在他死後，為他寫傳記，標榜他的優點。
有人不贊同聖匠修女們的生活方式，向亞狄乃Adelaide主教舒鄂Bishop Sheil投訴。主教出手干預: 修改會規並將修會完全放在自己權力之下。瑪利亞反對主教對修會不公平的干預，主教便在一八七一年九月，不義地把她開除教籍。
往後的五個月，瑪利亞耐性地等待，沉默、不自辯，且勸人不要責怪主教，只因他被人誤導。舒鄂主教病逝前數天，取消了開除瑪利亞教籍的頒令。
其實，真福瑪利亞在教會內，面對很多不公平的反對和妄斷，然她以愛德和含忍去應付。生活的壓力，勞累的奔波，進一步摧殘聖人體弱多病的身軀；一九零二年，聖人中風，臥在病榻七年，出入需依坐輪椅，健康更形惡化。生命最後的十八個月，她身不離床，但對苦痛從無怨言。一九零九年八月八日，聖人安詳而逝。一九九五年，先教宗若望保祿二世把她宣福。
最近三個星期, 我們探索過三位二十世紀的神聖修女。她們一心的奉獻、純潔的意向及忍耐的精神，確實給了我們良好的表樣。暑假過後，我們將會有一系列的文章來探索早期聖教會教父們的生平和教導。
fatheranthonyho@gmail.com; www.fatheranthonyho.com
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| Paul Schratz - Friday, 16 July 2010
Last year I penned (e-wrote?) an editorial titled “Can we meet on Facebook?” describing my conversion on the road to Winnipeg.
There, at a conference called Reaching the Facebook Generation, I was thrown off my horse and came to see that the Church ignores the new media at its own peril.
It was there that the benefits of social media like Facebook and...
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International from Catholic News Service
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Special
Administrator - Friday, 23 July 2010
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By Laureen McMahon
Holy Cross Regional Secondary has been under the guiding hand of its first and only principal, Robert (Bob) DeJulius, for nearly three decades.
At the end of the 2010 school year DeJulius passed the torch to new principal Chris Blesch, a teacher at the Surrey school for the past 11 years.
DeJulius was teaching and coaching football at Vancouver College when...
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