VATICAN CITY – They lined up from 5.30am, in the surreal atmosphere of St. Peter’s Square shrouded in thick fog and armored by the police, to attend the funeral of the Pope Emeritus. At 9.30am, the (Italian) time when Ratzinger’s funeral began, over 50,000 faithful were present to bid farewell to Joseph Ratzinger, together with delegations from various countries. →
VATICAN CITY – Tomorrow is the day of last farewell to Benedetto XVI, Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger, who passed away on December 31st: at 9.30am Italian time (3.30am in Ontario), the funeral will take place in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by Pope Francis who today, during the general audience, recalled Ratzinger as a “great teacher of catechesis” with “sharp and polite” thinking, then invoking his help to “rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living”. Applause and choirs: ‘Benedetto santo subito’ (saint immediately), chanted some of the faithful present. →
TORONTO – The battle is preparing for the expansion of MAID (Medical assistance in dying), the program for assisted suicide, to Canadians suffering from mental illness. Opposition parties and experts are calling for the expansion to be delayed, but the Liberals have given no indication that they will. And time is running out. →
TORONTO – Public health is on its knees, but the federal government continues to look the other way despite the continuous “sos” from the provincial premiers: the latest, in chronological order, last Friday, when the governors of the Canadian provinces presented a joint appeal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to meet “urgently” to “find a deal” on health care funding ahead of the spring federal budget. →
TORONTO – York Memorial Collegiate Institute staff are afraid to go to school. It was already known, but now it’s all on the paper, in some documents which reveal the concerns of school workers due to a series of “violent incidents”, the highest number since 2000, i.e. since the TDSB began monitor this data in the schools of the district. →