As the 2018-2019 pastoral and school year begins, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) continues to post possible homily ideas and prayers of the faithful to help link the Sunday liturgy with the national pastoral initiative for life and family. The proposed texts for the month of September 2018 include suggestions from the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2 September, to the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 30 September. As usual, the suggestions for homilies and prayers can be easily adapted for family prayer, as well as for personal prayer or for use with other groups or organizations. The texts for the month of September are available on the special Life and Family webpage, under the section "Documents and activities proposed by the CCCB".

At its May 2018 meeting the Governing Board of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) adopted by consensus a document entitled "Principles of Peace", which expresses the various theological principles and views of its member Churches on peace. Central to the document is the biblical image of Shalom: right relationships between God, humanity and all of creation. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is a member of the CCC.

• English version of the text, https://www.councilofchurches.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CCC_PriniciplesOfPeace_English.pdf
• French version of the text, https://www.councilofchurches.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CCC_PriniciplesOfPeace_French.pdf

The World Meeting of Families will take place 21 to 26 August 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.

The theme chosen by Pope Francis is: The Gospel of the family: Joy to the world.

The CCCB will be represented officially by Most Rev. Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and President of the CCCB; Most Rev. Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg and Vice-President of the CCCB as well as Dr. Michel MacDonald, Executive Director of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family.

Further to recent news regarding the grievous sin, crime, and scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and associated cover-ups in the United States and elsewhere in the world, the Executive Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has published the following statement. The CCCB statement is issued in communion with the Holy Father and his Letter to the People of God, and in reference likewise to a recent joint statement by the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Link to Statement

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has participated in the public consultation on palliative care coordinated by Health Canada which is in response to the passing of Bill C-277- An Act providing for the Development of a Framework on Palliative Care in Canada. The consultation, which ran between May to July 2018, sought to engage Canadians so as to develop a national framework on palliative care. Themes such as: advance care planning, person and family-centred care, access issues,special populations, health care provider training and supports, caregiver needs, and community engagement were addressed (Link). The CCCB’s submission addressed questions especially geared for those involved in the delivery and administration of healthcare in Canada. The Conference’s submission was developed with the assistance of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute and with several resources released by Covenant Health in Edmonton Alberta and others.　

The CCCB submission underscored the importance of the spiritual care dimension in palliative care, the human and personal dimensions in the care to be given, including the spiritual / religious needs of families and communities. Furthermore, it strongly emphasized that palliative care is not to include euthanasia or assisted suicide, or what is being called in Canada "Medical Assistance in Dying" (MAid).　

CCCB Palliative care submission (PDF)

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) continues to post possible homily ideas and prayers of the faithful to help link the Sunday liturgy with the national pastoral initiative for life and family. The proposed texts for the month of August 2018 include suggestions from the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 5 August, to the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, 26 August. As usual, the suggestions for homilies and prayers can be easily adapted for family prayer, as well as for personal prayer or for use with other groups or organizations. The texts for the month of August are available on the special Life and Family webpage, under the section "Documents and activities proposed by the CCCB".

CCCB Publications has released two new English-language liturgical publications:

• Order of Christian Funerals: Supplement for Celebrations with Cremated Remains
• Excerpts from the Roman Missal

Order of Christian Funerals: Supplement for Celebrations with Cremated Remains is intended to meet current pastoral and liturgical needs in view of the frequency of cremation in Canada. The new publication includes texts, rubrics and notes for funeral liturgies when the cremated remains are present, the Rite of Committal for the burial or entombment of the cremated remains, as well as texts, rubrics and notes for liturgies at the crematorium in the presence of the body of the deceased. The publication has been approved by the Latin Rite Bishops of Canada and is issued in accordance with the indult of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments which permits the liturgical text to be used in Canada ad experimentum for a period of five years. It replaces Appendix IV of Order of Christian Funerals, which had been published in 1990 by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). Further information on the new publication is available on the website of CCCB Publications at https://esubmitit.sjpg.com/cccb/index.aspx?component=ProductDetails&id=182-440.

The episcopal ordination of the Most Reverend Marián Andrej Paćak, C.Ss.R., will take place 2 September 2018 in Slovakia. His enthronement as Eparchial Bishop of the sui iuris Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of the Byzantine Rite in Canada willfollow 15 September 2018, at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Toronto, Ontario.

On 5 July 2018, Pope Francis named Father Paćak Bishop of the Slovak Eparchy of Toronto. He succeeds the Most Reverend John S. Pazak, C.Ss.R., who in 2016 was appointed Eparchial Bishop of the Holy Mary of Protection Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, Arizona.

50 years ago, the Encyclical Humanæ Vitæ of Blessed Paul VI was officially promulgated as part of the Magisterium of the Church. To mark this milestone, the Commission for Doctrine of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has issued a statement to the Catholic faithful and all men and women of good will entitled The Joy of Married Love.

Written in an accessible and uplifting style, it aims to inspire and provide encouragement to married couples, highlighting the promise of joy which is at the core of Humanæ Vitæ. This anniversary text also acknowledges the continuing implications of the Encyclical in today’s society as well as its centrality in Pope Saint John Paul II’s Wednesday Audiences on the Theology of the Body and Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Lætitia.

Approved for public release by the Permanent Council on 21 June 2018, the drafting of the text was undertaken by the Commission for Doctrine in collaboration with the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF).

The statement can be accessed in PDF format at the following links.

In English: The Joy of Married Love

In French: La Joie de l'amour conjugal

The Roman Catholic / United Church of Canada Dialogue has released a report on climate change entitled: The Hope within Us. Since October 2012, the Roman Catholic / United Church of Canada Dialogue has met eight times to explore our Churches’ responses to the ecological crisis, with particular attention to climate change. The report explores the spiritual resources of our common tradition for addressing climate change and working for ecological justice. While not turning away from the real dangers of the ecological crises, the dialogue provides a vision of hope, based on our common Christian faith, that a new relationship between humanity and creation is possible. The report states:

“So we hold to two poles of a single paradoxical truth. First, Christians have a responsibility to act faithfully even when we see our actions as small and insignificant. Second, our ground for hope is not in ourselves, but in that which comes when we lose hope in our own powers and put our hope in the One through whom all things were made and in whom all things will find their fulfillment. It is a hope that knows resurrection lies beyond death and the tomb. We experience hope not as a secure possession or achievement but as a mysterious gift that we receive more fully as we act upon it.”

The joint review initiated by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) concerning the latter’s international partners is ongoing.

In light of the CCCB’s preliminary findings earlier this year, namely the identification of certain partners whose statements and views appeared problematic from the perspective of Catholic ethical and social teachings, CCODP has proposed prioritizing the order in which those identified are subjected to further examination by taking into account the seriousness of the questions raised by the preliminary findings.

While discussions continue between the CCCB and CCODP, and further steps are taken to ascertain all the facts, including establishing contact with partners in the Global South, both the CCCB and CCODP remain committed to the importance and necessity of this review and its being completed over the coming months in a timely fashion with uncompromising regard for its thoroughness, integrity, and transparency.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has confirmed publishing plans for a new English-language hymnal, to be called Music for Catholic Worship. The decision was made by the Conference's Permanent Council at its June 2018 meeting. The current production schedule indicates the new hymnal should be in stock by Lent 2020.

Some 550 to 600 Catholic parishes across the country already intend to purchase the new hymnal. The English Sector National Liturgy Office will be sending confirmation to those parishes about the CCCB decision as well as updates as the project moves forward, including information on placing an order for the new hymnal. There are strong indications that the majority of parishes currently using Catholic Book of Worship III wish to replace it with an updated Canadian resource, while a number of other parishes currently using resources from the United States plan to replace or supplement these with the new Canadian hymnal.