WCR This Week

VATICAN CITY - A more important prize than a gold medal is up for grabs at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: a chance to experience solidarity and contribute to the realization that all people belong to one human family, Pope Francis said. Speaking at his general audience Aug. 3, Pope Francis offered prayers and greetings to the people of Rio and to the athletes and fans who will gather in the Brazilian city for the games Aug. 5-21.

In a personal message addressed to each of the 10 members of the new Refugee Olympic Team, Pope Francis wished them success in their events and thanked them for the witness they are giving the world. Naming each of the team's athletes from South Sudan, Syria, Congo and Ethiopia, Pope Francis said he had read some of the interviews with team members "so that I could get closer to your lives and your aspirations."

RIO DE JANEIRO - The inter-religious centre for athletes at the Olympic Village aims to encourage harmony and unity among different nations and religions, says the Catholic priest coordinating the service. The centre will host not only group meetings and Masses but also will offer individual guidance to those who seek religious support. "Athletes who seek these types of services come not only for spiritual guidance, but to find emotional balance before they compete," said Father Leandro Lenin Tavares.

Joyce Tutt, a tireless supporter of Catholic charitable causes and a passionate volunteer in her parish and community, is being honoured by Newman Theological College as this year's recipient of the Kevin Carr Christian Leadership Award. The award, named for the first layperson to serve as president of the college, recognizes individuals whose outstanding Christian leadership reflects the values of the college and the qualities that Carr cherished and exhibited in his work as president.

QUEBEC CITY - Canada owes him the return of the Franciscans, the founding of the country's largest Marian sanctuary, and the development of strong and lasting ties between the French Canadians and the Holy Land. Yet, 100 years after his death and although he might become Canada's next saint, Blessed Frederic Janssoone still remains largely unknown to many people even in Quebec.

Pope Francis told young people they are not called to be couch potatoes, living boring lives, but should leave their mark in history. "Today's world demands that you be a protagonist of history, because life is always beautiful when we choose to live it fully, when we choose to leave a mark," the pope told young people at the World Youth Day prayer vigil July 30.

Most Western humanitarian aid is failing to reach the thousands of Christians who have fled their homes as Islamic State fighters have swept through Iraq and Syria, say three Middle Eastern bishops. "It's time for election (in the United States) and also it is time to rethink American policy in the Middle East," Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, said at the annual Knights of Columbus convention in Toronto.

TORONTO - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, whose writings were once strongly identified with resistance to any change to the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis' recent apostolic exhortation. "In all honesty, I think that controversies around Amoris Laetitia are understandable," Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, told about 2,000 Knights of Columbus gathered in Toronto for their annual convention.

Halifax Archbishop-emeritus James Hayes, one of the last remaining Canadian participants in the Second Vatican Council, died in Halifax Aug. 2. He was 92. Hayes attended the first session of Vatican II as the secretary of Halifax Archbishop Gerald Berry, and became a council father for the final session in 1965 when he had become an auxiliary bishop. He was named archbishop of Halifax after Berry's death in 1967, retiring from the position in 1990.

KRAKÓW, POLAND - Aware of the risk of being accused of spouting platitudes, Pope Francis called on young people to model for adults the paths of mercy and respect, and then demonstrated what he meant. "Today we adults - we adults - need you to teach us, like you are doing now, how to live with diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat but an opportunity," the pope told young people gathered for a prayer vigil July 30.