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.