Issues, ethics, memory
The summer edition of The Catalyst, publication of Citizens for Public Justice, has published a number of books reviews, including mine of a book by Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, who lead an organization called Samara. Other books reviewed in this issue include those by ecologist Wendell Berry, Naomi Klein and John Ralston Saul and... Continue Reading →
The history of conflict in Northern Ireland is such that there has been a long and bitter disagreement over the name of one of its historic cities. The locals, a majority of them Catholics and nationalists, call it Derry, while Protestants and British loyalists call it Londonderry, the name introduced when the Crown planted London... Continue Reading →
In his recent encyclical, Pope Francis may succeed in ways that the earnest scientists of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have not. The world’s foremost climate experts have issued a series of ever more urgent reports about looming ecological catastrophe if we don’t mitigate human-induced climate change. Those reports are factual and credible,... Continue Reading →
In 2014, we hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and I kept a brief diary. This is day one of Canadians on the Camino,
If Murray Thomson wasn’t a pacifist, you might call him a happy warrior. The 92-year-old Order of Canada (OC) recipient is on the phone constantly from his retirement residence in Ottawa. He is trying to convince all of his fellow OC recipients to support a UN call to entirely eliminate nuclear weapons. More than 800... Continue Reading →
(September 05) We rise early and in the dark to take the breakfast provided by our hotel. We will each be carrying backpacks, mine a 44-litre Osprey which weighs about 10 kilos (just over 20 pounds) when packed, while Martha’s is a 30-litre pack and will weigh about seven kilos. We took considerable care in... Continue Reading →
A priest blesses pilgrims in Estella (September 06) We are on the road in the dark prior to 7:00 a.m. to avoid the heat of the day - and to get a spot in an albergue in Estella, a larger town of 14,000 which is 22 kilometres down the road. We begin by walking down... Continue Reading →
(September 07) As we leave Estella early this (Sunday) morning, we encounter various groups of young Spaniards who are staggering home, likely after partying through the night. They are really drunk but also friendly. Most of today's 22 kilometre walk is through lovely vineyard country. Just west of Estella, we come upon a fountain, not... Continue Reading →
(September 08) This is another day that begins with walking before dawn. We have a fast coffee and some wholesome brown bread at the albergue in Los Arcos and head off into the open farm country. It is quiet at this time of day and the light over the fields and hills becomes wonderfully soft... Continue Reading →
(September 09) The Camino de Santiago is a centuries old pilgrimage in the tradition of the Catholic Church. Today people walk it for a variety of reasons and in many, if not most, cases those reasons may not be religious. Through repeated encounters on the trail and in the streets, restaurants and bars in towns,... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 