WCR This Week

Raised on a farm near Killam in a devout Catholic family, Rodney Kroetch's own faith was strong enough for him to enter the seminary. However, it was only when he took part in a Cursillo weekend when he was 42 that Kroetch said he experienced the presence of Jesus. As a youngster, Kroetch loved life on the farm and working side by side with his father. But as he neared the end of high school, people began asking him, "What are your plans after graduation?"

When Elmar Abele became the first general manager of the Western Catholic Reporter in 1972, the newspaper was awash in red ink, had 14 staff and a circulation of 18,000. With support from Archbishop Anthony Jordan and later Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, Abele set out to put the WCR on a sound financial footing. He explored circulation plans adopted by Catholic papers in the United States and eventually recommended one similar to that of The Voice, the newspaper of the Diocese of Oakland, Calif.

A favourite motto of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata was: "Do small things with great love." But the "small things" she did so captivated the world that she was showered with honorary degrees and other awards, almost universally praised by the media and sought out by popes, presidents, philanthropists and other figures of wealth and influence. Despite calls on her time from all over the globe, Mother Teresa always returned to India to be with those she loved most - the lonely, abandoned, homeless, disease-ravaged, dying, "poorest of the poor" in Kolkata's streets.

Forgiveness is not something we can give ourselves, but requires the mediation of the Church, Canada's bishops say in a new statement on the sacrament of Reconciliation. Simply asking God for forgiveness "in one's own mind and heart" is not enough, because "Jesus himself entrusted to the Church the ministry of the forgiveness of sins," says the text, The Beauty of Mercy: Pope Francis and Confession.

At Mercy Farm in Benson, Vt., Mercy sisters are creating a place where people can experience peace and quiet and an opportunity to care for the earth. Here the importance of the earth is emphasized and visitors are encouraged to find ways they can care for it: organic gardening, recycling, composting, using solar power and reusing, for example. As well, visitors can experience God in creation. One college student returned to her Catholic faith after visiting the farm.

Take risks and do not let life's obstacles get in the way of encountering the true joy and life that Jesus can give, Pope Francis told more than one million young people. "Don't be afraid to say 'yes' to him with all your heart, to respond generously and to follow him," the pope told pilgrims at the closing Mass July 31 for World Youth Day. "Don't let your soul grow numb, but aim for the goal of a beautiful love which also demands sacrifice. "When it comes to Jesus, we cannot sit around waiting with arms folded.

Young pilgrims from the Edmonton Archdiocese who took part in World Youth Day in Poland came back renewed and with a sense of mission. Beaming with energy, they say the massive Catholic youth festival was the ultimate experience as it allowed them to witness the universality of the Church, to share their faith with the world and to grow closer to Christ. Thousands of young people from around the world took part in the festival in Kraków July 25-31.

Contrary to some analyses, organized religion is doing well in Canada, with the Catholic Church being the main player, says Reginald Bibby, one of the country's leading experts on social trends in religious practice. In his new book, Canada's Catholics, which he co-authored with pollster Angus Reid, Bibby says Catholics are living in a time characterized by vitality and hope.

Excited campers tore along Camp Encounter trails until they reached their counsellors. "We saw a donkey," they exclaimed. That puzzled the counsellors because they knew here in the bush on the island in Lac la Nonne, there are no donkeys. The smiling counsellors asked several questions until their young charges realized that what they saw was the island's resident moose, not a donkey.

Father Jacques Hamel's gruesome murder in northern France July 26 - by men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State - prompted sorrow and outrage from Muslim and Catholic leaders around the world. The slaying also brought forth calls for greater interfaith understanding as well as pleas to avoid stereotyping of and intolerance toward Muslims based on terrorist incidents. "This attack in a place of worship and on innocent worshippers in particular demonstrates that there are no boundaries to the depravity of these murderers," wrote Imam Qari Muhammad Asim, senior imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, England.