Issues, ethics, memory
By Dennis Gruending Catholics have a rich body of social teaching but their universities don’t teach it, their priests don’t preach it, and many people in the pews either do not know about it or are indifferent, says Joe Gunn, a long-time Catholic activist. Gunn spoke to the Faith and Public Life class at the... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending You cannot be a person of faith without being political, says Paul Dewar, the New Democratic Party MP for Ottawa Centre. Dewar spoke to the Faith and Public Life class at the Ottawa Lay School of Theology on February 9th. “Faith and politics are congruent and we have no option but to... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending The class in Faith and Public Life that I am leading this winter for the Ottawa Lay School of Theology met for its third session on January 26. I provided a quick survey on the political impact that faith and organized religion have had on Canadian society. I offered three brief points... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Douglas Roche reminds me of Emmett Hall. I published a biography in 1985 called Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical about the Supreme Court judge whose royal commission recommended Medicare for Canada in 1964. Hall was comfortable in the hallways of power but he was also a social reformer who used his position for... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending  Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte has waded into Canada’s federal election campaign by returning his Order of Canada medal in protest against Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s receiving a similar award in July. Morgentaler went to prison in the 1970s for providing women with abortions in free-standing clinics and without permission from hospital abortion committees. The... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending  John Dear, an American Jesuit priest and peace activist, gave an uncompromising address on non-violence to about 120 people in an Ottawa church basement on August 22. “Violence doesn’t work,†he said. “War doesn’t work. War is not the will of God. War is never justified. Peaceful means are the only way ahead.â€Â ... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Some family members of Alphonse Gerwing, who died in November 2007, say they will return his Order of Canada medal. His nephew and a sister have said that a similar award made to Dr. Henry Morgentaler tarnishes the one given to their relative. Al Gerwing was one of my high school teachers and remained a friend and mentor until... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Evangelical Protestants and Catholics have a history of mutual mistrust and suspicion but they are now engaged in a growing collaboration in the United States and Canada. Mark Noll, a Canadian religious historian who teaches at Notre Dame University in Indiana, published a book in 2005 called, Is the Reformation Over? Noll... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Ted Schmidt is a former teacher in the Toronto Catholic school system and a staunch critic of a church hierarchy that he says is "patriarchal, misogynist and out of touch." Schmidt also served as editor of the defunct Catholic New Times and has now written a book called Journeys to the Heart... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 