Winnipeg Archbishop urges Catholics to learn about Indigenous spirituality

Roman Catholics will benefit by taking time to learn more about Indigenous spirituality, the head of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg says. 

“It can help us deepen our own faith,” said Archbishop Murray Chatlain. “It can help us ask better questions about what we believe.” 

Chatlain was responding to news that the Portage la Prairie School Division upheld a decision to reject a Roman Catholic family’s request for a religious exemption from activities related to Indigenous spirituality. Portage la Prairie is part of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg. 

Being open to Indigenous spirituality is a good thing for Roman Catholics, Chatlain said. “There is a gift there for us. Indigenous people can contribute to our understanding of God.” 

Read my article in the Free Press.

A little bit of religious knowledge might have gone a long way before the Trump administration attacked Iran

Madeline Albright was the first woman to be Secretary of State in the U.S., holding that position from 1997 to 2001 under president Bill Clinton. 

One thing she learned during her time as America’s top diplomat was the important role that religion played when making decisions about foreign policy. 

“Religion has to be considered as we look at various conflicts,” she said. “Our diplomats have to understand the religious basis of these conflicts. In fact, they have to have training in religion. I would also make a point of the secretary of state having more religious advisers.” 

Why do I bring up Albright now? Because the Trump administration, which is now at war against Iran, could have benefitted from her insight before launching its attack three weeks ago. 

Knowing more about the religious make-up of Iran, with its Shia Islam belief in the importance of martyrdom, along with its predictions about the chaos and conflict leading to the end of the world, might have helped them anticipate the regime’s fierce resistance during this conflict.

Read about this in my latest Free Press column.

Photo above: Iranians gather after former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes. From India Today.

“We are not in a good place now, but give us time." North Dakotan on religion, Trump and Christian nationalism in his state

 

Manitobans and North Dakotans have long enjoyed good relations as neighbours. We share a border, a river and the weather. Grand Forks and Fargo are places for Winnipeggers to enjoy a weekend getaway. (Or, at least, we did until Trump started his tariffs and talk about invasion or annexation.) 

Over all the time I’ve lived in Manitoba, I never thought much about the religious make up of North Dakota. That is, until I saw a recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute that showed that it was one of the top states in the U.S. for Christian nationalism—the belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation that should be governed by Christian values and laws. 

I decided to do a little digging; how deeply do people in that state actually believe it? And who is against it? My recent column in the Free Press explores those questions.

Freedom, family and faith: How religion is being used by some Albertans to justify separation from Canada

Albertans who want to separate from Canada cite various reasons for wanting to leave: Economic unfairness, political alienation from Ottawa, conflicts over energy and environmental policies.

 

Some also cite faith. That's the message from the Alberta Prosperity Project, the group leading the effort to leave Canada. It says it right in its crest: Family, faith and freedom.

 

It’s also the message proclaimed by Tim Stephens, pastor of the evangelical congregation Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary. In his view, separation is supported by four biblical principles: liberty, justice, vocation and belonging.

 

I had a chance to talk to Stephens recently about his views. And I spoke with church leaders and others who feel the opposite way when it comes to mixing faith and politics in that province.

 

Read my story in Canadian Affairs.

A different lens, a bigger picture: Teacher and students share about importance of learning about other religions

In January, the Manitoba government announced a new resource for schools to address Islamophobia. Two years ago, it announced the creation of a new curriculum about the Holocaust.

Those are good things. They will help students know more about Islam and Judaism, and the challenges facing members of those groups. But I wondered: What resources are available to help students develop an even broader sense of religious literacy?

As it turns out, the province has an optional grade 12 course titled “World of Religions: A Canadian Perspective.” But not many schools use it. I was able to speak to a teacher who is teaching it, and some students who are taking the course. “It’s given me a different lens,” said one. "It gives me a bigger picture,” said another. 

Read my column here.

New book aims to help Christians learn more about Islam, combat Islamophobia

Ramadan began last week. It runs until March 19. For Muslims, it’s a sacred time when they pray and fast daily from dawn to sunset, seeking to grow closer to God. 

While Ramadan is for Muslims, other religious groups can see it as a good opportunity to learn more about Islam — including during Christian worship services. 

That’s the view of Anna Piela and Michael Woolf in their new book, Confronting Islamophobia in the Church: Liturgical Tools for Justice. (Judson Press.) 

In the book, the married couple say that taking time to learn about Islam at church can help Christians combat Islamophobia and be better neighbours to Muslims in their communities. As a bonus, it can also help them develop a deeper understanding of their own Christian beliefs. 

“By studying Islam and engaging with Muslims, you can be a better Christian,” said Piela. “By engaging with other traditions and their scriptures, you are better able to better define what your own beliefs are.” 

Read about the book in my Free Press column.

The Olympics and Religion: Like a church, but without the dogma

 

The winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina are just about half-way over. So maybe it’s a good time to explore the pivotal role religion played in the creation of the ancient Olympics, how religion caused those ancient games to come to an end, and how religion influenced the modern revival. As Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France said when he revived the modern games, it was to be like a church, but without the dogma. He did include a hymn, though!

 

Read about it in my latest Free Press column.

(Photo above: OSV News photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters)

The religious roots of Valentine's Day

Feb. 14 is the feast day of St. Valentine. As everyone knows, right? 

Maybe not. That’s why the CBC Radio asked me to share nationally about the religious roots of this annual day for giving chocolates and cards—and how this martyred saint came to be linked to this romantic day. (Hint: It involves the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer).

Along the way I also talk about what some other religions do to promote the idea of love (e.g. the Jewish Valentine’s Day), and a list of Christian feast days that haven’t yet been commercialized in the same way. (At least, not yet.) 

You can read it here, in Canadian Affairs, or listen to it at CBC Manitoba Information Radio.

Are you dead? Popular app in China serves people who live alone, but maybe we already have an "app" for that here in places of worship

Are You Dead? That’s the name of the most popular paid app in China, according to the BBC. 

The app is designed for the estimated 200 million or so people in that country who live alone, and who don’t have family or others to check on them regularly. 

By clicking a button on the app every day, users confirm they are alive. If they don’t click it, the app will get in touch with an appointed emergency contact and tell them to check to see if the person is in need of assistance. 

Said a user: “There is a fear that people living alone might die unnoticed, with no one to call for help. I sometimes wonder, if I died alone, who would collect my body?” 

The app is only available in China. But with over four million Canadians living alone in Canada. It might be useful here. 

Or maybe we already have an app for that: Being involved in a place of worship. I asked faith leaders what their groups do to make sure people—especially seniors—aren’t overlooked and alone. 

Read my latest column on this topic in the Free Press.

Photo above from Home Health Companions.

"What is missing is the spiritual element." Gathering in Winnipeg marks 30th anniversary of Elijah Harper's 1995 Sacred Assembly

 

“The political process has failed us, and I believe that what is missing is the spiritual element.” That’s what then Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper said in 1995 when he called for a Sacred Assembly to deal with stalled talks about land claims and Indigenous reconciliation issues. 

On Jan. 23-25, several hundred people from across Canada, including church and Indigenous leaders, gathered in Winnipeg to mark the 30th anniversary of that Assembly, and to discuss ways to keep its vision alive. 

“I realize it is difficult for Indigenous communities to embrace walking together with the churches, yet we all claim to acknowledge God, our Creator, and we pray to the same God,” said Wallace McKay, Grand Chief emeritus of the Nishnawbe- Aski Nation in northern Ontario in his welcome. 

He hoped the event would cause participants to “learn, understand and respect the choices that all people make as they pray, worship and seek a better tomorrow.”

Read my story about the Winnipeg gathering in the Free Press.

B.C. Supreme Court case asks: Can publicly-funded faith-based hospitals and care homes refuse to allow MAID on their premises? A personal story raises some questions

When I heard about the B.C. Supreme Court case about whether a publicly funded faith-based hospital should be allowed to deny patients onsite Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID), my thoughts went back seven years to my friend John Regehr. 

At that time, Regehr, 93, was a patient at Concordia Hospital, a faith-based hospital in Winnipeg that was started by Mennonites in 1928. Like the Catholic hospital at the heart of the B.C. court case, it doesn’t permit MAID on its premises. 

At the age of 90, Regehr had life-saving heart surgery. A few months later, he fell in his apartment and broke his hip. He recovered, but over the next few years there were more falls and more trips to emergency. 

In October of 2019, he was admitted to Concordia Hospital with severe pain in his hip. It was clear to him he would never be able to go back home again. 

According to his son, Rennie, he didn’t want to lie in bed for the rest of his life, “waiting for death to come.” But when he learned he was eligible for MAID, “his face lit up.” 

Since Concordia doesn’t allow the procedure, due to its beliefs, Regehr was moved by ambulance to Health Sciences Centre on Nov. 7. There, in the presence of this family, he died. 

Looking back on that experience, Rennie said the experience of being transferred “was hurtful” to his father on two levels. First, because he had committed so much of his time and energy to the Mennonite church in Canada, only to feel they had turned, as he was abandoned by them in his greatest moment of need. Second, because riding in the back of an ambulance to the hospital where he could have MAID was extremely uncomfortable and cold. 

For Rennie, Concordia’s decision felt like dogma and doctrine were more important than his father, and for others who find themselves in similar situations. “Can those doctrines and dogmas be set aside to tend to the person?” he asked. “I wish for more pastoral responses.”

Read more about this issue, which is pertinent not just for faith-based hospitals but also for faith-based personal care homes, in my Free Press column.

Photo above: Gaye O'Neill, mother of Samantha O'Neill (at the heart of the case, in picture, left), talks to the media at B.C. Supreme Court before the lawsuit challenging forced MAID transfers at St. Paul's Hospital. From the Winnipeg Free Press.

Rossbrook House celebrates 50 years of "unconditional love'

Fifty years ago, three members of the order of the Roman Catholic Sisters of the Holy names of Jesus and Mary decided no child in Winnipeg’s inner city should ever have to be alone. 

The three women were Sisters Geraldine MacNamara, Marylyn Gibney, and Lesley Sacouman. Together, they founded Rossbrook House, a drop-in centre for youth who had nowhere else to go. 

On Tuesday, 50 years to the day Rossbrook House opened in 1976, the organization held a celebration to mark the work of the three founders and the many staff and volunteers who followed in their footsteps. 

Read my story about Rossbrook House and the sisters who founded it in the Free Press.

Photo above by Mikaela MacKenzie, Free Press

Get your wills ready to defend immigrants and other vulnerable people: American Episcopal bishop to clergy

I was talking to an American friend who, like me, is appalled by the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis and other parts of the U.S.

I told her how helpless I feel as a Canadian while watching the U.S. dissolve into fear, uncertainty and mistrust. Apart from not travelling to that country and not buying American products, what can I do?

“You can write,” she said. Sure, I replied, but I didn’t think it was appropriate for me to dump on America; I don’t live there. “Go ahead,” she said. “We are dumping on ourselves.”

With my American friend’s encouragement, I will say something. But not in my words; I’ll let some American Christians do it.

Read what they are saying in my latest Free Press column.

Does Manitoba need a Christian Heritage Month? Does Canada? Yes, say supporters

Does Manitoba need a Christian Heritage Month? Does Canada? Yes, says an evangelical couple in Toronto. And now a Progressive Conservative MLA in Manitoba has joined them, introducing a private member’s bill, The Christian Heritage Month Act, to declare the month of December as Christian Heritage Month in the province. 

Already, about 50 towns and cities in Canada have declared December Christian Heritage Month in their communities, including Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Kingston and Nanaimo, along with the province of Saskatchewan. 

Reaction by church leaders in Manitoba is mixed. Some welcome it, some are cautious, some oppose it. Whether or not it happens will be decided by politicians in spring. 

Read my column about it in the Free Press.

Some top religion stories of 2025

 

What were the top religion stories of 2025? If you go by the amount of media attention, the number one choice is clear: The death of Pope Francis and the surprise election of Pope Leo of the U.S. 

But there were other top religion stories, like the election of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury — the first woman to lead the worldwide Anglican Communion. Her election led to another big story that hasn’t received much media attention: The potential schism in the Anglican church. (A story for 2026.) 

Other stories included a report from the Pew Research Center that found that Sub-Saharan Africa has become the part of the world with the largest number of Christians, the increasing number of people persecuted for their faith and continuing questions about whether or not there is widespread revival among youth in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. (Spoiler alert: There is no proof it is happening.) 

Read about those, and some other top religion stories for 2025, in my latest Free Press column.