CLOSED AND OPEN FAITH
By Father John Walsh

 
Until recently we all grew up in a closed culture. Parents told their children to marry someone from their own culture to avoid the conflicts they would encounter in an inter-cultural marriage. The cultural values would be the same, the food preparation would be the same and maintaining the language would allow for inter-generational communication… grandparents would be able to speak with their grandchildren. Most first generation immigrants were able to create a community of people of the same culture, Italians with Italians, Irish …

AN IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS PARADIGM SHIFT
By Father John Walsh

A paradigm is the mental image of the way things are as we see them.  It comes from our background and our experiences.  We see the world as we are.  We project unto the outside world the paradigm or image we have of the world and our paradigm has certain shibboleths or assumptions on which it is built and that is what we project on the outside world.  We think that that is the way it is.  The reality is that we are …

ACCOUNTABILITY – A FORGOTTEN VIRTUE
THE CHARBONNEAU COMMISSION

By Father John Walsh
In our Western culture accountability is what is expected of someone, when that someone is made accountable for her or his actions and its consequences.  We have examples everywhere.  The last couple of months the members of the Charbonneau Commission in Quebec have called witness after witness to be accountable and to affirm or deny that there is or isn’t collusion and corruption in the way contracts are offered and in the alleged scheme of making contributions to a political party …

CANADIAN RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY: AN ESTABLISHED FACT OF LIFE
By Imam Dr. Ziyad Delic

Canada evolved into nationhood over a period of more than 145 years.  However, during the past four decades it has moved from a nation society that was essentially Christian, to one that is religiously diverse.
Religious diversity is an established fact of life in Canadian society, while at the same time we have been aware of our racial and ethnic diversity for many years.
It is not surprising, then, how religion plays a significant role in conceptualizing new and changed realities …

BRIDGING THE SECULAR DIVIDE — THE MCGILL SEMINAR
By Father John Walsh

McGill University was the site of a two-day Seminar that gathered people from all over Canada to discuss and debate how religion can or must bridge the growing divide between religion and secular society. Persons from a myriad of religious faith traditions were represented and each took an active role in contributing to the Canadian religious mosaic and expressed varied views of how religious people are investing time and energy to dialogue with the secularization of society. The topics discussed and …