Category: Bishop McGrattan - ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF CALGARY

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF CALGARY

Solidarity Sunday 2023

3/20/2023

March 20, 2023
Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Solemnity

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Lent is the season of conversion. Through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving we seek an inner transformation to deepen our relationship with God, our fellow human beings, and with all creation.

We are reminded in Isaiah (58: 6-7): “Is not this the fast I choose: to loosen the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

For 55 years Development and Peace-Caritas Canada has engaged deeply in this work of seeking justice, building relationships, and advocating for the poor and the oppressed. Although, uncomfortable at times, the prophetic nature of the work of Development and Peace challenges us to consider our own role in social, economic, and environmental inequities that harm or impact those beyond our national borders.

A new campaign cycle, Create Hope, will be the guiding theme for the next five years. This was inspired by Pope Francis’ 2021 address to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, in which he stated, “you have the ability and the courage to create hope where there appears to be only waste and exclusion.”

In this first year, the campaign’s focus will be, Create Hope: Stand for the Land. We stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Global South who defend their homelands by protecting the land, waters, and environment that sustain not only themselves, but the planet as a whole.

Since 1967, the CCCB has set aside the Fifth Sunday of Lent as Solidarity Sunday, which this year, falls on March 26, 2023. I urge you to make a life-changing impact by giving generously. Contributions can be made online at www.devp.org/donate, by mailing a cheque, by phone at 1- 888-234-8533 or by using the donation envelopes available in your parish. I also encourage you to consider becoming a monthly donor through Share Year-Round at www.devp.org/shareyearround.

Let us open our hearts this Lent and heed the call of the Holy Spirit to renewal in the midst of a struggling world.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

Click here to download the PDF version of this letter.

Most Rev. William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

March 20, 2023

Parish Visits: Recognizing the Work of God in the Parishes

3/6/2023

At the beginning of the year, I resumed the canonical and pastoral practice of making an official pastoral visit of the parishes in the Diocese of Calgary. This past weekend I was at St. Luke’s parish where I also celebrated the Rite of Candidacy for our seminarian Peter An who is presently in his pastoral internship year at the parish.

According to the Code of Canon Law, the Bishop is expected to make routine visits to the parishes of his diocese in order to familiarize himself with the pastoral needs of his people: “The Bishop is bound to visit his diocese in whole or in part each year, so that at least every five years he will have visited the whole diocese.” (Code of Canon Law, c. 396.1). The pastoral visit enables me to maintain personal contact with the People of God. It is an occasion to reinvigorate those engaged in pastoral ministry, outreach, and evangelization and to evaluate the effectiveness of those structures within the parish designed to serve these various pastoral areas.

For the parishes, the Pastoral Visit can be an event of grace, reflecting in some way the visit of Christ who visits and redeems His people. The visit is normally organized and directed by the parish priest and staff so that they can coordinate the meetings and ensure that parishioners who are involved in liturgical, catechetical, spiritual, and pastoral outreach might come together to showcase and witness to their specific involvement through the parish. The visit helps the parishioners to gain a greater awareness and appreciation of the ministries and services within the parish and the gift which the parish is in being a community of families united in Christ.

Typically, the Pastoral Visit takes place over three days. Friday morning and part of the afternoon is spent visiting Catholic institutions within the parishes. The Catholic schools are a significant part of the parish community and one that supports the parents who are the primary educators of their children. I meet with administrative staff, student councils, chaplains, teachers, and the students. This helps me to see how to strengthen the triad relationship of parish, school, and family in the education and formation of our youth. The other important institutions that are visited are the hospitals, retirement, and nursing homes. This also enables me to meet with the parish pastoral care ministers who reach out to the sick and the elderly.

On the Saturday I address those involved in parish ministries, to recognize the dedication and sacrifice of parishioners, their best practices, and the unique contribution of their parish to the life of the Diocese, where I can also offer encouragement for future work. The importance of co-responsibility in the leadership of the parish by the priests and laity in offering pastoral programs of formation, outreach, and service is essential if the parish is to fulfill its mission. Sunday is dedicated to the celebration and preaching at the Masses.

As the bishop I am privileged to see first-hand through the Pastoral Visit of a parish the lived experience of the parishioners, to hear their concerns, encourage them and to offer any insights on the spiritual and liturgical life or the potential apostolic activities that might strengthen the parish. No parish exists for itself and must always be reminded of being open to the Spirit and to the “wealth of best practices” that might be found in the other parishes within the Diocese. The recent experience of the Synod has awakened this reality in the Diocese by stressing the importance of listening and understanding how to be parish communities of encounter and witness. The importance of collaboration among parishes will be essential so that we do not become isolated but rather open to sharing in both the resources and challenges that we face as a Diocese.

The Pastoral Visit of a parish can also promote a lived experience of the new evangelization. To highlight the need to form parishioners as missionary disciples in fulfilling the essential identity of the Church by promoting the knowledge and witness of the Faith and to embrace its mission through the various forms of pastoral outreach.

Pope Francis has always encouraged the shepherds of the Church to have “the smell of the sheep”. Through the Pastoral Visit of a parish, it has been my experience that this has in fact been a reality for me as a bishop. In the coming years I hope to be present to many more of our parishes in and through a Pastoral Visit.

Written by
Most Rev. William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

March 6, 2023

Rite of Election: Chosen by God

2/26/2023

Rite of Election, Feb. 26, 2023. Photo credit: W. Anderson.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 the whole community gathered to witness something truly special: a joyous Rite of Election that welcomed 170 catechumens into St Mary's Cathedral as members of the Elect! This event marked the culmination of their profound spiritual journey and preparation for receiving Initiation Sacraments at Easter Vigil.

Signing the Book of Elect. Photo credit: W. Anderson.

What's happening during the Rite of Election?
During the Rite of Election, the Church recognizes those who possess the dispositions that make them fit to take part in the initiation sacraments. The catechumens are introduced one by one to the bishop and other attendees, and here they express their wish to receive the sacraments of initiation and become a missionary disciple. With these testimonies, the Bishop accepts the judgement of the Church and invites the catechumens to offer their names for enrolment.

In the Rite of Enrolment of Names, the catechumens inscribe their names in the Book of the Elect as a pledge of fidelity, followed by the Bishop's declaration, "I now declare you to be members of the elect, to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the next Easter Vigil." From this moment onwards, the catechumens are known as "the elect" until they receive the Sacraments of Initiation.

The Bishop also calls to the Godparents, urging them to accept the responsibility entrusted to them in the Lord. He asks them to show their support and love for the chosen individuals by providing guidance and instruction so that they may partake in God's sacraments.

Let us pray to the Lord for all the Elect and for ourselves, that we may be renewed by one another’s efforts and together come to share the joys of Easter.

SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE RITE OF ELECTION

We can, and we must do much better

2/6/2023

The World Day of the Sick, established in 1992 by St. John Paul II, is celebrated on the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. Each year we are called to reflect on our response to those in our midst who are sick, burdened with age, or afflicted with illness. This year Pope Francis chose the parable of the Good Samaritan to remind us that our response must always be one of compassion. It must reflect the words of the Samaritan traveler when he said to the innkeeper “Take care of him”.

Beginning in January of this year we launched in our Diocese the “Horizons of Hope”. It is a four-week parish education resource which explores the human experience of dying and death, discerning and making decisions at the end of life, accompanying those who are at the end of life, and supporting and integrating palliative care within the wider community. This was positively received by approximately four hundred parishioners throughout the Diocese. Their involvement was a concrete response to understanding how we are to care for the most vulnerable.

In his message this year, Pope Francis acknowledged that we are rarely prepared for illness. “Oftentimes, we fail even to admit that we are getting older. Our vulnerability frightens us and the pervasive culture of efficiency pushes us to sweep it under the carpet, leaving no room for our human frailty.” He goes on to note that “when evil bursts on to the scene and wounds us, we are left stunned”. In many ways these very words describe what has taken place in our country of Canada since 2016 with the introduction of assisted suicide, euthanasia, as medical assistance in dying or what has commonly become known as MAiD.

Regardless of the fact that the expansion of eligibility for MAiD to those who suffer from mental illness has been delayed by the Federal Government, this evil will continue to wound our Canadian society. In an open letter to all Canadians from Religious Leaders in Canada who opposed Bill C-7 when it was first introduced, we acknowledged that “We Can and Must Do Much Better”.

As Pope Francis stated, “In our own moments of weakness, we may feel that we should abandon others in order to avoid becoming a burden. This is how loneliness sets in, and we can become poisoned by a bitter sense of injustice, as if God himself had abandoned us. It is crucial then, even in the midst of illness, that the whole Church measure itself against the Gospel example of the Good Samaritan. We are all fragile and vulnerable, and need that compassion which knows how to pause, approach, heal, and raise up.”

The importance of our works of charity in caring for the sick cannot be overemphasized. The Church’s pastoral presence to the sick is so that she may become a true “field hospital”, for her mission is manifested such acts of care.

The “elements of the inn” in offering such care has been the enduring witness of our institutions that have provided Catholic healthcare as a sign of the Church’s commitment to compassionate care for those who are sick and to accompany them in their suffering. In fact, many religious congregations were founded to address the suffering of the sick and in so doing, they established hospitals, promoted education in the medical sciences and offered formation for those in the healthcare professions. This witness continues today around the world through the charisms of many religious congregations and Catholic lay faithful who serve as doctors, nurses, aids and researchers. This affirms in our world the Christian belief in the sacredness of human life from the moment of conception to a natural end, even with the challenges that illness and suffering can bring into the life of a person.

As Pope Francis noted in his 2023 message, “Sick people, in fact, are at the center of God’s people, and the Church advances together with them as a sign of humanity in which everyone is precious and no one should be discarded or left behind”. In Canada our care for the sick, the elderly and vulnerable can’t be through the expansion of MAiD but rather to the expansion and access to palliative for in fact "We Can and Must do Much Better”.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

February 6, 2023

Joy, hope, and love

12/5/2022

The Advent season marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. In preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, it is a time of spiritual renewal which invites us as Christians to reflect more deeply on the meaning of our common human history. To rediscover our vocation and mission in Christ which calls us to reach out to all of humanity, peoples, cultures, and across the path of time.

In our lives we can all experience the call to begin again, to rediscover the meaning and the goal of our lives in relation to God, and to all of humanity through Christ. It is similar for the human family in rediscovering the common path and horizon that unites us. This horizon of hope for all of humanity has been revealed to us in Christ, who was the incarnate Word of God.

The season of Advent can restore in each of us this horizon of hope. It is a hope which does not disappoint for it is founded on God’s word. It can be a time to deepen our longing and anticipation that God will do what the prophets of the Old Testament promised. To fully reveal the promise of His love, the promise of salvation that is founded on hope and which unites us in Christ to all of humanity.

Pope Benedict in writing about this season of Advent stated: “The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope. It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us, memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in Seek That Which Is Above, 1986)

Advent can also teach us that there are two ways of experiencing this common history of memories: one is a human or sociological vision and the other is religious that invites people of faith who believe in God to see a much deeper horizon in our common human history. The first experience of time or history is chronos, which is essentially cyclical and is often without the sense of purpose or meaning. The second, karios, is the living of our history, our lives through the lens of knowing we have been redeemed by God in Christ Jesus. This is the experience which brings us the joy and hope which we rehearse each year in Church’s memory of the celebration of Christmas.

In Evangelli Gaudium “Joy of the Gospel” Pope Francis reminds us that “The joy of the Gospel fills the heart and lives of all who encounter Jesus. … With Jesus Christ joy is constantly born anew.” (EG, #1) In Scripture joy is expressed or described through a multitude of personal and collective human experiences e.g., religious ceremonies and feasts. In the Old Testament, it was the most common experience that identified the presence of God or the awareness God acting in human history. The Psalms are filled with this experience of joy which celebrated the nearness of God in the life of our human experience.

In John’s Gospel the experience of joy is the Messiah’s gift. It is what Jesus desired for his disciples that the joy that he experienced in the presence and nearness of his Father would be with his disciples, and that their joy would be complete. In the Gospel of Luke, the experience of joy proceeds the birth of Christ, that it is expressed by the angels and the shepherds. It is the same joy that accompanies those who encounter Christ each and every day, and which becomes attractive to those who are open to receive the Good News. Joy anticipates the coming of Christ, it is a sign of the God’s Kingdom, and as St. Paul stated, it is an enduring fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.

In the past few years during this time of Advent in preparation for our celebration of Christmas, we as a Diocese have introduced the I am Blessed campaign. It is an invitation to see how our lives have been blessed by God as a way of entering more deeply into the season of Advent and in preparation for Christmas. This year the theme is “We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)"

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Dec. 5, 2022

Diocesan Memorial Liturgy for Miscarried and Stillborn Infants

11/28/2022

Bishop McGrattan's homily at the Memorial Liturgy for those grieving the loss of a child through miscarriage and stillbirth, November 24, 2022 at St. Mary's Cathedral.

In the communal life of the Church the witness of faith and belief in Christ is always confirmed in the following – “Faith if it is genuine works through love”. Another way of stating this truth is that in the Christian life our faith is to be expressed through acts of love.

This evening those families who have gathered, parents, grandparents, and children are united in the painful reality that they have suffered the loss of a child through miscarriage or stillbirth. Despite this pain and grief which is shared by those here present they also witness to a communal act of love in the remembering of their children in prayer.

This is also a genuine witness of faith to the sanctity of life. That all human life from conception to natural death is a gift from God who is the Creator. He is the author of all life and in Christ we come to know and believe that through his death and resurrection we receive the gift of eternal life from God the Father. This is the hope that must also unite us in the prayer of this memorial liturgy.

In the Old Testament, the remembering in prayer of God’s salvific presence in the midst of his people was always an act of “anamnesis”. It is a spiritual remembering and an act of faith in which they experienced the very presence of God’s love. In the First Letter of John this evening we heard the sacred author reminding the early Christians of this same truth. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are”. Other translations of this passage replace “See” with “Remember”. This evening we remember the love that the Father has given these parents through marriage. A love in which He invites husband and wife to share in His “co-creative love”, to express mutual love for each other and to be open to bringing new life, children into the world.

This vigil celebration of prayer for those children who did not receive the gift of being born into a family are still known by God as his children, like us. Although you as parents did not receive the joy of knowing your children you do share the anguish, sorrow and despair of their loss. However, in the faith that we share in being disciples of Christ, the suffering we experience now will always be transformed by Christ and that “what we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is”. This is the hope that we pray will sustain us as it did the early Christians.

In the Beatitudes Jesus teaches his disciples that despite the present circumstance of their life the future they desire will become one of blessing and happiness if they maintain their faith in Him. This is the faith that allows one to trust that the fullness of our life is revealed in Christ. This would have been the desire and the faith of these parents for the children that they have lost. To be baptized into the fullness of the life of Christ.

At the conclusion of this liturgy we incorporate the sign of light, in the lighting of a candle. Light symbolized the dispelling of darkness, and spiritually it overshadows for believers the sadness of death. The light of the paschal candle for Christians symbolizes the eternal light of the resurrection of Christ. As you come forward to light the candles for your children and their names are proclaimed, you are uniting yourselves in this communal act of love in remembering the children you mourn, but also it is a sign of your genuine faith and belief in the resurrection of Christ for your children.

We who gather support you in the loss of your children, but in faith and through our prayers, we pray that they now share in the eternal life of Christ and God the Father.

Submitted by Bishop William T. McGrattan for Faithfully.
Photos courtesy of Yuan Wang | See all photos

Feed the Hungry resumed sit-down dinners

10/17/2022

The first Feed the Hungry sit-down meal in more than two years was a smashing success on Thanksgiving weekend as guests and volunteers were eager to participate again in the beloved program in the heart of Calgary.

The program, held at St. Mary’s Parish Hall and supported by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, attracted 376 guests for the sit-down meal and another 120 who took the option for takeout.

Fr. Avinash Colaco, Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, explained that people had been asking when we would host another sit-down meal. When Bishop McGrattan suggested a Thanksgiving dinner, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Both guests and volunteers were excited for that day.

The program has made some changes. In the past, the meals were cooked right on site and served. But now they are catered. For now, a hybrid program is in place where guests have the option to sit-down and eat, or to receive a takeout package.

“This is a new system that we are developing” said Fr. Avi, adding that the program will run on Sundays for 48 weeks this year.

“I enjoyed the chance to go to each and every table and talk to the guests that came in. Building relationships with our community members is an important aspect of our program.”

Alejandro Henao, coordinator of the Feed the Hungry Program with the Diocese, said the Sunday Thanksgiving meal, which was sponsored by St. Mary’s Parish in Cochrane, was the first sit-down meal since March 2020 when they were put on hold due to the pandemic.

“Our Thanksgiving meal consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans and a salad. Dinner was topped off with dessert, a choice of apple crumble or pumpkin pie and whipping cream. Fresh coffee, lemonade and water were also provided.

“We are very grateful to all volunteers for their commitment and understanding through the transition,” he said. "376 guests were thrilled to be able to come in and relax and enjoy music while they ate their meal, while another 120 preferred to continue with the takeout option. Each guest left with a food package containing fresh fruit, granola bar, trail mix, juice and water.”

During the past two years of the pandemic, the program continued but only with the takeout option. Henao said it hasn’t been decided yet if the takeout option will continue with the program now that sit-down meals are back.

“It was great to be back. The volunteers were really excited and happy. They have been obviously kind of asking for this for the last six, seven months after the (health) restrictions were lifted,” he said. “For the clients it was positive too . . . We also had a pianist playing some music that weekend to provide more excitement and promote a warm environment for dinner.”

Carla Neary, who has been a volunteer for about 15 years and has been area lead for about seven years, said she continued to come in and volunteer during COVID.

“My mandate was to get us back in the hall for a sit-down meal. (Thanksgiving) Sunday was an amazing day . . . Food was provided by Spolumbo’s and Sunterra which was fabulous and it was just great to have our guests back in our dining hall and all the volunteers. I haven’t seen so many of them for so long,” she said.

“Everybody was appreciative. Everybody was so happy to be back into the hall. We had live music. It was just a lovely afternoon and everything worked out really well.”

The Feed the Hungry Program continues to encourage people to volunteer for this rewarding ministry. At least 60 volunteers are needed at each dinner. They also invite organizations and corporations to sponsor dinners as a way to provide their staff and stakeholders with meaningful opportunities to do good work and build community.

Written by Mario Toneguzzi for Faithfully. Mario is a veteran writer living in Calgary with his wife Marlene and their three children. They attend St. Peter's and St. Stephen's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Calgary.

Photo credits: Alejandro Henao & volunteers team

Calgary Catholic Medical Association

10/2/2022

The Calgary Catholic Medical Association (CCMA) would love to invite and meet with you at our upcoming event. Please join us for the White Mass (Feast day of St. Luke) Tuesday, October. 18, 2022 at 7 pm, at St. Mary's Cathedral (Calgary) with Bishop McGrattan. This mass is open to the public and is not limited to only health care professionals.

About CCMA
The Calgary Catholic Medical Association (CCMA) has been a running lay Association for 20 years. It is the only multidisciplinary Catholic Association of health care providers in Canada. Our mission is to foster the personal and professional formation of healthcare professionals, in accord with the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

Membership includes voting and nomination privileges at the AGM, early notification of upcoming events, early bird discount pricing for social events, but most importantly, a community that holds common ground in faith and interest in health care.

To share some personal experiences of the CCMA, we have testimonies from a few members of the Executive Council.

The CCMA has been for me a place of friendship and spiritual support. My membership dates back to CCMA’s first days (20+ years ago). I have been a Family Physician for almost 40 years.

I have enjoyed meeting health care providers from different walks of life. Their shared experiences have enriched me personally. It was very helpful to be supported by a group of people that see their vocations as a service to the patient in the Name of Jesus. The sharing of the Art and Science of Healthcare has been beneficial for me as a Family Physician in the city of Calgary. The Diocesan spiritual support through the CCMA has been very important for me as well.

We have had fun times. Recently I really enjoyed the easy camaraderie between the CCMA Physicians and our Indigenous colleagues when volunteering as a Physician at the Papal visit in Edmonton. It was a very good and privileged 'Walking Together ' experience."

Dr. Monique Withers (Treasurer)

I recall being invited to join the CCMA in 2015, by one of the Physicians and I was excited to be a part of an association that combined the Catholic faith and my vocation as a nurse. In the past 7 years, CCMA has really evolved and I can attest, has been a great place of spiritual nourishment and support. Knowing that I am a part of an association of varying disciplines who share the same faith, I am confident and comfortable that I can always find someone to talk to or talk through certain ethics and morale lived out in the workplace.

In the past the CCMA has held conferences that could help strengthen one’s faith in their profession, in order to do the work we are called to do. My family has joined in Pilgrimages hosted by this association and the White Mass particularly is strengthening to see the health professions coming together in our faith’s highest form of worship. We have been well supported by the Bishop and the Diocese for our events and witnessing the growth in membership with the CCMA has been encouraging, to see others interested in practicing their faith, but also living it out even in their field of expertise."

Rikka Borras, RN (Vice President)

I have been part of the CCMA since 2016, first as a spouse of a member, an allied health member, and then as a member of the Board. For me, this association is a place of community and connection with others of the same faith and values. Sometimes religion and spirituality can be very personal and hard to talk about, however, I have realized that spirituality is what gives us meaning in life, whether for ourselves or for the people we care for. This has been the place to share in how we can live out our faith while exhibiting the love and care like Jesus did within both our personal and professional roles.

The events and get-togethers hosted are an opportunity to reflect and find support in the challenges we have as healthcare professionals. I was particularly moved at the Breakfast with the Bishop, back in March 2020, right before the world shut down due to the pandemic. Bishop McGrattan spoke about palliative care which can provide opportunity for a spiritual experience at the end of life for the person(s) involved, as well as those around them. This brought to the forefront, the grief I was trying to make sense of from my dad's passing nine months prior as well as humanity's shared mortality, healthcare professionals and patients alike. The "end" is something we often avoid thinking about but truly, it is inevitable. How can we make sense of it, especially now knowing what was to come after that? I remember the message, that death (and suffering) is part of the bigger picture, God's plan, as I sit with patience and acceptance with myself and with my clients. As a therapist, the chance to bear witness to and to support another person's suffering is really an honour and a privilege.

The CCMA is welcoming not only to physicians, but also healthcare professionals of various disciplines. It is one of, if not only, associations in Canada that is multi-disciplinary - we have nurses, psychologists, and counsellors to name a few. This community really values the different health professionals in a person's care journey and in that, we find ways to learn from each other to better serve our clients and patients

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

Elaine Cheung, MTA (Secretary)

To contact CCMA, visit their website at https://catholicmedyyc.wordpress.com
or email catholicmedyyc@gmail.com

St. Teresa of Calcutta: Feed the hungry & sharing poverty

9/4/2022

Today September 5th marks the 25th Anniversary of the death of Mother Theresa. Pope Francis canonized Saint Teresa of Calcutta on Sep. 4, 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy. Her witness of the Gospel and the profound example of “sharing poverty” with the must vulnerable is the enduring legacy and attractiveness of her religious life which bears fruit today throughout the world in the continuing ministry of the Sisters of Charity.

Her vocation was first lived as a young Loreto Sister. Teresa enjoyed teaching for fifteen years in Loreto sponsored schools in India. In 1946 while on a train, she experienced a strong “call within a call” to go from a religious life of teaching to one that served those who were poorest of the poor, to care for the destitute in Calcutta. This call came from her experience of families in society at the time who were treated and labelled as ‘untouchable’, these people were born, lived and died on the streets. These were the people for whom Sister Teresa felt called to share her life.

In Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s story, there are two distinct but related calls in sharing the love of the poor: one is to care for the broken, to bind up wounds and to ensure their dignity in the final moments of their life. The other is to advocate and educate people about the systemic injustices of greed and power which divides and destroys the common fabric of human lives. Since the Second Vatican Council, more emphasis has been given to advocacy work, to critique the structures that leave so many on the peripheries and without the ability and right to participate in society.

This tiny woman reached out to the most destitute of people, often overlooked by society, government organizations throughout the world because they fall through the cracks or don’t fit their categories and classifications of those in need. Saint Teresa brought dignity to those who died in pain, in slums and on street corners, alone and unloved. She chose not to deal with the root causes of poverty, such as the abandonment of widows in segments of Indian society, yet she campaigned vigorously against abortion and contraception in one of the world's most overcrowded cities and countries.

Her extraordinary witness of charity, the upholding of the gift of human life at all stages, her loving and selfless service of the poor did touch the hearts of people throughout the entire world. Yet despite the testimony of all these good works following her beatification in 2003 and the publication of her personal diary and letters, many journalists and newscasters chose to report the sensational narrative of her spiritual struggles: "Mother Teresa's secret life: crisis and darkness," or "Calcutta's Saint was an atheist". Some commentators wrote: "She lost her faith and the Church rewards her for it." Those who prepared the documentation for her beatification cited such letters as proof of her exceptional faith and not the absence of it. Mother Teresa reveals deeply personal experiences when she once felt God's powerful presence and heard Jesus speak to her. Then God withdrew and Jesus seemed silent. She experienced in her spiritual life of faith the withdrawal of any emotional consolation from God. It left her to rely only on the divine virtues of faith, hope and charity, the virtues given to all Christians, not just the spiritual elite. In the end Mother Teresa shared her spiritual poverty, showing that she was one of us after all.

What is truly prophetic about Mother Teresa and her sisters is that when they speak of loving God and neighbor, and "sharing poverty", it defies the logic of many of our institutions and agencies that prefer political agendas and programs for the poor instead of deep, personal communion and a presence which respects the dignity of the person. The individuals and communities committed to this type of communion and accompaniment of the poor are dismissed as being irrelevant. Some have said that in Mother Teresa there was no prophetic witness of social justice in her teachings of her lifestyle. Yet she and her sisters moved into neighborhoods and befriended people and spoke only of 'sharing poverty’.

For the last 29 years the diocese has provided outreach through Feed the Hungry to the vulnerable and poor within the inner-city neighbourhood of Calgary. During COVID this diocesan outreach continued by the offering to individuals and families warm meals in care packages distributed outside of the Cathedral hall. Now is the time to renew our “sharing poverty” in the spirit of Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

This week a town hall meeting will be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral that will bring together the community of sponsors and volunteers who want to continue to support Feed the Hungry as we transition back to providing an in-person meal beginning at Thanksgiving. I invite the parishes and lay associations to recommit in becoming directly involved in these Sunday evening meals which can be done through the financial sponsorship of a weekend meal and in volunteering. This pastoral outreach is unique to the diocese and more importantly essential in our witness to the Gospel. It is also the witness of St. Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Teresa.

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Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Sep. 5, 2022

The Paradoxical Commandments

On this 25th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death, Bishop McGrattan highlights the words of “The Paradoxical Commandments,” embraced by this saint of the poor.

When Mother Teresa first heard these words, written by Dr. Kent M. Keith, an American lawyer, writer and leader in higher education, she was moved to put them on the wall of one of her homes for children in Kolkata. They are a sure guideline for finding personal meaning in the face of adversity and transcend all creeds and cultures. They very aptly describe Mother Teresa’s way of dealing with such a huge number of people throughout her lifetime.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centred. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Walking together

7/18/2022

Photo credit: Vatican Media

In April 2022 I had the privilege of accompanying the Indigenous Delegation to Rome to meet the Holy Father. It was historic in many ways but it was also a step of preparation for his visit to Canada. In his meeting with the survivors he made the commitment to “visit their ancestral lands, where their families live” and to accompany them on this journey of healing and reconciliation.

The Papal Visit takes place next week, and has been described as a “penitential pilgrimage” by the Holy Father. Early in June the Vatican confirmed that the Holy Father would visit three hubs in Canada: Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit. Given the Holy Father’s advanced age, limited time frame for the visit and the size of Canada, the host communities will minimize travel for the Pope and allow for events to take place in close proximity to these cities.

Edmonton is home to the second largest number of Indigenous people living in urban Canadian centres. It is near Lac Ste Anne, a place of annual pilgrimage for thousands of Indigenous peoples from across Western and Northern Canada. The Holy Father will visit the site of a former residential school, an inner-city Indigenous parish, celebrate an outdoor Mass at Commonwealth Stadium and on the Feast of St. Anne be with the pilgrims who make this annual pilgrimage to Lac Ste Anne.

In travelling to Quebec City, he will meet with the Indigenous peoples from Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. This region is also home to the Shrine of Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre which is one of the oldest and most popular pilgrimage sites in North America which annually draws people from throughout Canada and around the world.

The final stop for the Holy Father will be in Iqaluit which is the capital of Nunavut and home to 3,900 Inuit People. During the private encounter in Rome the Inuit Delegates invited Pope Francis to visit this northern part of our country and he expressed his openness that this meeting would take place.

In the planning of this Visit we have been committed to ensuring Indigenous participation from across the country on programming and other key elements of the visit. Fr. Cristino Bouvette, a Calgary priest has also been asked to assist in the planning of the liturgies. His own Indigenous background and knowledge of working with these communities has been invaluable. There are also a great number of volunteers from our diocese who are committed to making this visit to Alberta a meaningful and faith filled experience for Catholics.

This visit will be a new chapter of healing, hope and reconciliation that we pray will be a watershed moment for Indigenous peoples of this land and the Church’s relationship in our journey together.

It is important that we each commit to holding this papal visit in our prayers and to undertaking the reparations with Indigenous Peoples we are each able to accomplish in our own lives. For some, this may mean learning more about or participating in the Indigenous cultural or spiritual celebrations. For others, learning about the history and making contributions personal and financial to support the journey of healing and reconciliation. This is a whole Church effort and each one of us needs to hold this in prayer and make a real and practical effort to support reconciliation.

The journey involves words, for sure – and the Holy Father will echo the apology he made to the Indigenous Delegation when we visited Rome. Let’s each commit to offering our own efforts so that in the experience of Indigenous Peoples, we can collectively make real and palpable the Apology of Pope Francis on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

July 18, 2022

Growing in holiness as a family

6/13/2022

"Celebrate the Holy Spirit" Synod group discussion. Photo credit: Wade Anderson.

The synodal journey in the Diocese of Calgary was a process of encounter, listening and discernment. There were many who questioned if undertaking such a journey would bear any fruits personally and communally. Like on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit breathed new life and hope into the weariness that we had been experiencing in these past few years. One parish synod leader described the experience in these words: “The synod allowed our parishioners to move from a period of isolation to gathering once more and in doing so discovering each other’s stories of faith. This was just the beginning of a renewal for our parish and Church in listening to the hurts of the past and to forge forward with hope to grow stronger together.”

There were many challenges that surfaced during these listening sessions but there was one overwhelming concern which was voiced and that was for families, youth and children in the life of the faith community. The responses on a family's experience of the Church reflected both ups and downs, and at times, quite serious challenges. Not all families felt welcomed, acknowledged, or appreciated in their communities. Many shared their personal accounts of frustration, hurt, and pain experienced when they had approached the Church. There is a general lack of understanding and acceptance of the uniqueness and conditions specific to families and the stages of life they are in. Often this results in the parishes’ inability to make connections with families in a truly effective way.
Outreach, inviting, and being welcoming were emphasized over and over again. Families need parishes to make intentional efforts to foster relationships with them, help them to connect with other families in the community, and to work to strengthen these bonds. Special consideration also needs to be given in all our outreach activities to gauge how effective they are in addressing the broad spectrum of families and their living situations. These differences can include: ethnicity, culture, language, age, marital status, single parents, families with young children, and those without access to or familiarity with the latest technology. In addition, people and family circumstances change over time as we age, and communication modes and styles need to be adapted appropriately to the targeted age group.

One person stated “our children deserve a place where they can learn to know, love, and serve God.” This passionate appeal is echoed time and again by many in the community. Do we make consistent and intentional efforts to make sure youth get involved, feel welcome, be encouraged to participate, and have opportunities to be formed in the faith? Have we made space for our youth? Are we fostering an environment where experience and learning are encouraged without feeling scolded or frowned upon? A common concern repeated many times was a lack of organized events specifically to provide opportunities to engage youth, with a focus on ensuring they feel welcome, connected, needed, and loved. Many asked if we are proactively and properly funding youth programs to keep them engaged. The idea of sharing ministry with youth between smaller communities was raised as a possible way to share resources and maximize effectiveness. There is a need for perseverance, creativity, occasional re-evaluation, and a never-ending need for continuous innovation in our communication, outreach, and welcoming efforts as we journey with our youth and their families.

Ultimately, our youth want to journey with us. Thanks to the dedication of our teachers and parish catechists, over 500 youth participated informally in the synodal journey as they shared their experience of Church. As can be expected, the various responses provided a wide-range of answers, reactions, and perspectives; ranging from experiencing the Church as a community that welcomes, supports, inspires, and teaches, to feeling unwelcome, uninspired, and/or judged by the Church.

When asked how we could grow together as a community of faith, responses from our youth included a wide spectrum of ideas for activities to make faith and Church life more appealing. There was an expressed desire for the life of faith to be more inviting, inspiring, and to know God (Holy Spirit) personally. They felt that the Church needs to find new ways to pass on the message of faith in ways that consider individual interest, intellectual level, and age so as to lead young people to make personal decisions about their faith and their relationship with God and the Church. There must be a greater degree of collaboration and openness in accompanying them in relation to addressing modern-day issues and challenges pertaining to faith and morals. They want a better understanding of the sacraments, including the Mass so that the celebrations can be more personal and understandable.

Finally, an important and recurring theme found in our youth responses is the desire to see personal witness among those professing to be people of faith. Noteworthy of mention is their feedback relating to the impact schools, teachers, parents, and the Church have had in providing opportunities for growing in the knowledge and experience of faith.
These themes and others are found in the Diocesan Synod Synthesis Report.

In this month of June there is also the World Meeting of Families (WMF) in Rome, June 22-26, 2022 which coincides with the closing of the “Amoris Laetitia Family Year”. This gathering, which is part of the current synodal journey of the Church, will place the priority of families at the center of the Church’s discernment of its pastoral accompaniment and outreach. Pope Francis is inviting every Catholic family to join virtually via live streaming. It could potentially be a valuable experience of walking together in the “participation, communion and mission” for families in the life of the Church. I encourage those in our parishes and lay associations to learn about initiatives at the national level by going to the Family and Life webpage at cccb.ca.

Pope’s Prayer Intention for June 2022:
For Families – We pray for Christian families around the world; may they embody and experience unconditional love and advance in holiness in their daily lives.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

June 13, 2022

The Restoration of the Sunday Obligation

5/18/2022

May 18, 2022

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The great feast of Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the life of the Church through the Apostles, the disciples, and with Mary, the mother of our Lord, who were gathered in the upper room “constantly devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:12-14). This gathering for worship is necessary for our identity as disciples of Christ.

In March of 2020, the Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories issued in their respective dioceses a dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation to provide the faithful the freedom to choose and not be obligated to participate in large liturgical gatherings and thus to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during the time of the global pandemic.

Now, at this stage where the necessity for health and safety restrictions has been relaxed, a return to in-person gatherings on Sundays as a worshipping community is necessary for our continued spiritual nourishment and growth. Therefore, the Bishops of Alberta and Northwest Territories in their respective dioceses will be lifting the dispensation on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022.

While acknowledging the continuing presence of COVID-19 in our midst, the decree restoring the Sunday obligation will continue to provide the exemption for those who are ill, vulnerable and those providing direct care for them, and those who cannot attend Mass because of frailty or old age.

Our sacred duty to worship God on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation orients our personal freedom to the worship and service of God. May the feast of Pentecost inspire us to constantly devote ourselves to prayer especially in the highest form of our worship of God in the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

✠ William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

Download Decree for the Restoration of the Obligation

Faith-filled young people

5/15/2022

Photo: Confirmation Mass - at St. Peter's, Calgary.

This Easter Season I will once again have the opportunity to visit parishes, meet young people and their families, and confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. In the months preceding the celebration of Confirmation at the parish, young people have completed a period of catechesis through a parish-based sacramental program which was offered in person or on-line due to the pandemic. The reception of this sacrament completes their initiation into the life of Christ and the Catholic Church. They are prepared by the priests and lay catechists in learning about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit which they receive in the Sacrament. They deepen their understanding of the Faith through study, by engaging in apostolic service activities, and exploring the lives of the Saints who witnessed to Christ in ways that they can relate to in their lives.

The candidates also write a letter to the Bishop and express in their own words why they are choosing to be confirmed. In many instances they describe the example of sacrifice that they recognize in their mother or father a concrete sign of love that supports the family. In their own words they also sense that they are called to deepen their relationship with God through prayer, and to be more faithful in living their faith by becoming a better person in drawing closer to Christ. These are the seeds of hope that I read and which are inspiring young people in the Church now.

During this Marian month of May, Pope Francis offers this prayer for young people, “We pray for all young people, called to live life to the fullest; may they see in Mary’s life the way to listen, the depth of discernment, the courage that faith generates, and the dedication to service.”

Young people are naturally inclined to identify with our Mother Mary. Our Blessed Mother faced a challenging moment of discernment in her youth, a moment that tested the strength of her faith and trust in God, the Father. Yet courageously, with her ear inclined to listen to the Lord, and her heart open to serving the purpose He set before her, she answered, “yes.” Young people can reflect this courage and determination. In their zeal for social justice initiatives, their care of creation, and their commitment to building a more just and peaceful world, young people give witness to their Faith. And to pursue and accomplish these good works, young people need to engage in prayerful discernment supported by their families and the faith community of our Catholic schools and parishes.

It is this invitation that Pope Francis extended to young Catholics in his prayer intention for the Marian month of May which has been captured on video.

The video begins with six empty chairs which quickly become filled by three generations of a family: grandparents, parents and children – all of whom share a role in the discernment process. As Pope Francis speaks about the importance of family, a girl draws an image which gradually is revealed to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. Addressing the youth, Pope Francis points to Mary as a role model for young people. The Holy Father highlights the attributes and gifts of Mary’s faith that continue to inspire young people today.

Pope Francis issued a pastoral document entitled, Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment in 2018. The three sections of the document provide a much deeper reflection upon the themes presented in the video.

The first section presents the importance of schools and parishes in the lives and spiritual development of young people while stressing the need for authentic witnesses to the faith especially the laity who are formed pastorally to accompany young people alongside the clergy.
The second section examines the development of the mission and vocation of young people and the essential elements of accompaniment and discernment which can support them at critical times in their personal and faith development.
The third section outlines the synodal dynamic of “listening” for the Church and the need to move from "I" to "we", from “me” to “us”. The Holy Father recognizes that this is important to help young people understand the varied perspectives and cultures which they will experience in society today and in which they will be required to engage in dialogue and collaborative service throughout their lives.

In Christus Vivit, Pope Francis states, “If we journey together, young and old, we can be firmly rooted in the present, and from here, revisit the past and look to the future. To revisit the past in order to learn from history and heal old wounds that at times still trouble us. To look to the future in order to nourish our enthusiasm, cause dreams to emerge, awaken prophecies and enable hope to blossom. Together, we can learn from one another, warm hearts, inspire minds with the light of the Gospel, and lend new strength to our hands.” (Christus Vivit #199)

Young people are the future of the Church at a time yet to be and they are the now in the present moment. Through receiving Confirmation and being sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit we cannot underestimate young people in their contribution to the ongoing synodal process of the Church. I encourage every youth ministry group, school, classroom, campus ministry group and others to see the synodal process as one that invites a dialogue with the voice of our youth and their experience of living the faith. The Church, especially the Bishop, needs to hear the voices of our faith-filled young people!

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

May 15, 2022

An Easter Message from Bishop McGrattan

4/18/2022

Each year the celebration of Easter takes us beyond the Cross of Good Friday to the joy and hope that comes from knowing that the Risen Lord is truly present in the world and in the lives of believers. For Mary Magdalene and the other women, Peter and the beloved disciple, the experience of the empty tomb would soon be transformed into that of encountering the risen Christ.

The gospels each follow a similar pattern for those who would come to believe. Initially scripture tells us that they did not recognize him. This was to signify for each of them the need to let go of their knowing him in the flesh, of not finding the body in the tomb. A necessary step of becoming detached from recognizing him in his earthly body, in order that they would become attached to him in new ways and know him in his resurrected and glorified body which was no longer bound by time or space. This believing community of disciples became the first witnesses to know that God’s love and presence in and through Christ has the power to transform our lives, to move us beyond the experiences of the empty tomb to the hope of our Easter belief!

The stark images of those caught up in the current tragedy of war throughout the world were reminders to us this Good Friday of Jesus' passion, the carrying of the cross, the suffering and death he endured. His acceptance of the Father’s will would ultimately be the source of new life, a hope that is found in the resurrection. God moves us in faith to act with the same love that our Lord offers for the entire world. It is a love that restores dignity for those who have been exiled from their homes, transforming strangers into neighbours, and calling us to respond with compassion and care to those who are suffering and vulnerable.

Jesus revealed himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in the midst of their doubt and despair. At first the disciples were prevented from recognizing him until he began to share with them his presence in the living Word of scripture and then in the sacramental sign of his presence “in the breaking of the bread” – the Eucharist. He also commissioned Mary as the “apostle (the one sent) to the apostles”, to bring this good news of the resurrection to the world. In a similar way each Easter celebration invites us to come and see, to encounter like the two disciples the presence of the resurrected Lord in Word and Sacrament and then like Mary to go and proclaim this mystery which God has accomplished through Christ.

To enter into mystery means the ability to wonder, to contemplate; the ability to listen to the silence and to hear the tiny whisper amid great silence by which God speaks to us (cf. 1 Kings 19:12). Like Mary we need humility to enter into this mystery and to receive through the Holy Spirit the whispering of the revealed truth that our search for life, goodness, beauty and love is fully revealed in the risen Christ. May our commitment to this sacred mystery be revealed in the witness which we give in the promoting of the dignity of each human person in our country of Canada.

A blessed Easter Season to you and your family.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+ William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

April 17, 2022

The Consecration of Russia & Ukraine

3/24/2022

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The Consecration will be livestreamed on Friday, March 25 at 9:45 am. Watch live on Youtube | Facebook

If you plan to come in person, please arrive by 9:45 am.

Bishop McGrattan joins the Holy Father in the Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at St. Mary's Cathedral on Friday, March 25.

Prayer starts at 9:50 am. Act of Consecration at 10 am (5 pm Rome time).
Mass in the Cathedral: 7:30 am & 5:00 pm
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

A penitential season of transformation

3/21/2022

The Season of Lent began three weeks ago at Ash Wednesday when we received the ashes visibly marking us with the sign of repentance and of eternal life.

Lent is a season that invites us to reflect on the transformational change needed in our lives in anticipation of celebrating the new life in Christ at Easter. This Season often coincides with Spring – a season filled with the natural signs of rebirth, new beginnings, and new growth. And in the Third week of Lent this year, we do in fact mark the first day of Spring.

Lent provides the opportunity to grow deeper spiritually by engaging in the practices of fasting, almsgiving, and more frequent prayer from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday. These penitential days of Lent can truly help us to experience a spiritual transformation and thus to celebrate more fully the Easter Season.

This year the season of Lent is also offering us many moments and world events that invite a pause in the usual routines of living. The pandemic has taken a toll on people. Some have lost family members and friends during the pandemic and often those deaths were compounded painfully by isolation from one another. Some have lost employment or experienced a reduction in work hours. Others have suffered mental health issues as the health precautions imposed an isolation that impacted the provision of supportive mental health care services. Children were unable to attend school at times or they studied at home away from their friends. The list of impacts goes on.

And then, as things slowly began to return to normal pre-pandemic practices, Russia attacked Ukraine and the world watched in horror the images of innocent people caught in the middle of this violent conflict. It has been shocking and tragic to see the suffering of the people in Ukraine as their homes are bombed and more recently the hospitals and shelters that are being targeted and destroyed.

The world is seeing a tragic injustice unfold that is causing deep suffering, a suffering that we can carry in our prayers asking for God’s strength and comfort. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)) denounces the destruction which is inflicted by war:

Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation. A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes.” CCC 2314

The condemnation of Russia’s aggressive indiscriminate choice of warfare has been resolutely opposed by the countries of the world and is only matched by the bravery of the Ukrainian men and women fighting to defend their freedom and homeland. What outstanding examples of personal fortitude and perseverance!

In the midst of this destruction and human suffering, there are witnesses to the faith who are reaching out to alleviate one another’s anguish. Mothers in Poland left strollers at a train station for those mothers arriving with children from Ukraine, a volunteer at the Polish border gave children candy and toys, Romanian volunteers gave flowers to women arriving from Ukraine on International Women’s Day, a person played the piano at the border crossing, people in Berlin greeted a train arriving from Ukraine with signs indicating how many people they could welcome with accommodation, etc. A father and eldest son saying farewell to the mother and three other children in the family were asked by a reporter if they thought that the family would be reunited soon. The eldest son replied quickly and without hesitation, “Everything will be alright.”

While the troubles of the world are many and they are very serious, these examples of human kindness and strength give inspiring witness to the faith and goodness of people. We join in this witness through donations to Ukraine, in supporting relief efforts, welcoming those displaced by the war to resettle in Canada and with our prayers.

On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Friday, March 25), Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His Holiness has invited Bishops around the world to join in this Act of Consecration. In solidarity with our Holy Father and in union with my brother bishops I will offer this Act of Consecration on behalf of the Diocese at St. Mary's Cathedral. A Novena Prayer is also being prayed in the nine days preceding the Solemnity and I invite you to join in the Novena Prayer and the Act of Consecration. This spiritual engagement is as important and needed as the relief efforts. The act of humbly seeking God’s mercy and grace in prayer this Lent can further the dialogue of peace. Such acts of penance can be transformational for us and the world.

Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. The Church prays: "From famine, pestilence, and war, O Lord, deliver us." CCC 2327

Let us continue to pray for peace. From famine, pestilence, and war, O Lord, deliver us.

The Ukrainian Catholic leaders have prepared a Novena and invited all Catholic faithful from around the world to join them in prayer. We invite the faithful of the Diocese and all people of goodwill to participate in the Novena prayer above.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

March 21, 2022

World Day of the Sick 2022

2/6/2022

Saint John Paul II established the World Day of the Sick in 1992 to invite the Church to be attentive to and to pray for the sufferings of the sick and those who care for them.

Institutions providing Catholic healthcare have long been a sign of the Church’s commitment to care for those who are sick and to accompany them in their suffering. In fact, many religious congregations were founded to address the suffering of the sick, and in doing so, have established hospitals, promoted education in the medical sciences, and offered formation for those in the healthcare professions. This witness continues today around the world through the charisms of many religious congregations and Catholic lay faithful who serve as doctors, nurses, aids, and researchers. This affirms in our world the Christian belief in the sacredness of human life from the moment of conception to a natural end, even with the challenges that illness and suffering can bring into the life of a person.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (“CCC”) recognizes that when we are afflicted with sickness, it is both a time of challenge and a time of grace:

Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death." CCC #1500

"Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him." CCC #1501

When we become ill and more acutely aware of the fragility of our own good health and how this can change so quickly as demonstrated during the pandemic, it is understandable for some to be burdened with uncertainty, questions, and fear. This can be an experience of desolation and for some, isolation. The importance of our works of charity in caring for the sick cannot be overemphasized. In the Message for the 2022 World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis describes the importance of our pastoral presence to the sick, “This helps us to see how important is the presence at our side of witnesses to God’s charity, who, following the example of Jesus, the very mercy of the Father, pour the balm of consolation and the wine of hope on the wounds of the sick.”

This presence or accompaniment of the sick happens in several ways.

I would like to remind everyone that closeness to the sick and their pastoral care is not only the task of certain specifically designated ministers; visiting the sick is an invitation that Christ addresses to all his disciples. How many sick and elderly people are living at home and waiting for a visit! The ministry of consolation is a task for every baptized person, mindful of the word of Jesus: 'I was sick and you visited me'" (Mt 25:36) - (Pope Francis, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36) - Standing beside those who suffer on a path of charity, Message for the World Day of the Sick 2022.)

St. Francis de Sales writes, “The Prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer.” And St. Jane Frances de Chantal echoes this same belief, “Suffering borne in the will quietly and patiently is a continual, very powerful prayer before God.”

Let us thank the Lord for the progress that medical science has made, especially in recent times; new technologies have made it possible to prepare therapies that are of great benefit to the sick; research continues to make a valuable contribution to eliminating old and new pathologies; rehabilitation medicine has greatly expanded its expertise and skills. (Pope Francis, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36) - Standing beside those who suffer on a path of charity, Message for the World Day of the Sick 2022.)

As we mark this 30th World Day of the Sick and the COVID pandemic continues to challenge the world let us be generous in our support and prayers for those who are suffering with physical and mental illnesses, their care-givers and especially our healthcare workers.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Feb. 6, 2022

Human Fraternity - Justice, Peace, Solidarity

1/17/2022

It is the New Year, a time that marks beginnings, and it also coincides with the end of the Christmas season and the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. Scripture records that as Christ emerged from the waters of the Jordan, “the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:16-17). This feast celebrates the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. A ministry which was to embrace all peoples despite their status, the circumstances of their life, the culture, and conditions in which they live. Through our baptism we share in this call, this mission of service through the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who can renew our strength, courage, and fortitude in the midst of the challenges we currently face with the pandemic.

The New Year also brings with it the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18 to 25 and the International Day of Human Fraternity on February 4. The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2022 is, “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship Him” (Mt 2:2). The theme speaks to the pressing need globally for solidarity and fraternity in the face of economic, political, and social turmoil, including the challenges and injustices which the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted. This celebration will be an opportunity to pray for the unity that God desires for all of creation. It is this unity of persons which sows the seeds of mutual understanding that inspires justice, peace, and solidarity.

On December 21, 2020, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/75/200 declaring February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity. It is now observed annually in order to heighten our awareness and focus upon human fraternity, solidarity, justice, and peace. It is significant that the evolution of thought and work toward this resolution included Pope Francis and came as the result of Christian-Muslim cooperation. The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity provided the UN Chief with a message from Pope Francis and the Grand Imam, proposing that February 4 be designated as the annual International Day of Human Fraternity.

The UN resolution included three clauses specifically directed toward the religions of the world:

Expressing deep concern at those acts that advocate religious hatred and thereby undermine the spirit of tolerance and respect for diversity, especially at a time when the world confronts the unprecedented crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which requires a global response based on unity, solidarity and renewed multilateral cooperation,
Recognizing the valuable contribution of people of all religions or beliefs to humanity and the contribution that dialogue among all religious groups can make towards an improved awareness and understanding of the common values shared by all humankind,
Underlining the importance of raising awareness about different cultures and religions or beliefs and of education in the promotion of tolerance, which involves the acceptance by the public of and its respect for religious and cultural diversity, including with regard to religious expression, and underlining further the fact that education, in particular at school, should contribute in a meaningful way to promoting tolerance and the elimination of discrimination based on religion or belief, …

These values of tolerance, respect, engagement, dialogue, and understanding which are articulated in the resolution are also expressed with the depth of our Faith in the encyclical letter on fraternity and social friendship, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis released on October 3, 2020.

The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity met at the Vatican, Sep. 11, 2019. Photo: Vatican Media.

Our mission through baptism is to recognize in one another the sacred dignity we have as a son and daughter of God. It is this type of dignity that Pope Francis describes as foundational to our relationship with one another.

For Christians, the words of Jesus have an even deeper meaning. They compel us to recognize Christ himself in each of our abandoned or excluded brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:40.45). Faith has untold power to inspire and sustain our respect for others, for believers come to know that God loves every man and woman with infinite love and “thereby confers infinite dignity” upon all humanity. (Fratelli Tutti, 85.)

When this recognition of each other’s dignity is present, Pope Francis describes the sense of fraternity and solidarity that is fostered, a fraternity which cannot overlook the sufferings or injustices of another person.

The world exists for everyone, because all of us were born with the same dignity. Differences of colour, religion, talent, place of birth or residence, and so many others, cannot be used to justify the privileges of some over the rights of all. As a community, we have an obligation to ensure that every person lives with dignity and has sufficient opportunities for his or her integral development. (FT, 118.

Pope Francis speaks to the people, the generation of this time to urge a fraternity among all people rooted in the recognition of each person’s dignity.

It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. … (FT, 8.

Let us join together in praying for that universal aspiration to social fraternity.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Jan. 10, 2021

St. Nicholas - A Saint for Advent this year

12/5/2021

On December 6th, the liturgical calendar of the Church notes an Optional Memorial for St. Nicholas, a Bishop. St. Nicholas is one of the most popular saints of the Church. Folklore and legend describe him as a strong defender of the Faith with a heart for children. On this latter point, St. Nicholas is typically associated with Santa Claus and sometimes St. Nicholas and Santa Claus are described as one in the same person but the research that is available draws this latter notion into question. That said, there are many stories of his care for children by providing them with sustenance and saving them from the dangers of life.

St. Nicholas lived in the 4th century, and therefore little is known for certain about this saint. He was born in the village of Patara in Asia Minor, an area that was under Greek governance at that time. His parents were wealthy and they raised him to be a devout Christian. He is known to have taken the Gospels to heart especially the words of Jesus to sell one’s possessions and provide for the needs of the poor. After Nicholas’ parents died in an epidemic, he used his inheritance to assist those who were sick or in need. He devoted his life to serving God and while he was still very young, Nicholas was made Bishop of Myra. Bishop Nicholas is known in legend and lore for his generous support of those in need, his love of children, his care for sailors and ships, and his devotion to the Catholic Faith.

This legacy of charity to those in need, love of children, care for those who work in professions that support the operational functioning of our society, and commitment to the Faith are worthy virtues to ponder and appropriate as the Season of Advent begins this year.

The Season of Advent is designated as a penitential Season – a time to prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ at Christmas and in the fullness of time. It is a time to take stock and particularly this year, when the expressions and rituals of our Faith have been challenged by the health precautions we needed to take to curtail the spread of this pandemic, Advent provides us with the chance to focus the weeks of preparation on our spiritual lives. Through prayer, ritual, acts of penitential preparation, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in the words of the Catechism, Advent unites the faithful of the Church to the desire of St. John the Baptist:

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease.’" CCC #524

It is this Faith dwelling in our hearts and lived in our lives that inspires charity to those in need, love of children and all people, and care for another.

CHARITY - Charity supports those living in our midst who lack the sustenance to enjoy a basic quality of life. Homelessness and mental health issues often render people in circumstances that they might never have thought possible. I am grateful for so many in the Diocese who support either in person or through the gift of financial sustenance, the needs of those who are sorely challenged by unstable housing, employment, or poor health.

LOVE - Love for children bursting forth with new life and youth awakens the soul to exuberance and vitality. It is sometimes said that Christmas is a time for children. And it is a magical time for children. However, it is also a time that reconnects people with the memories from childhood and the desire to share the story from that First Christmas in Bethlehem with our youth, the now and the future of our Church. In many ways, where life may have wearied the adult, Advent reawakens the inner child connecting us to the excitement on children faces and the anticipation of great joy in the words of Luke’s gospel:

But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11

CARE - Care for those who look after our community in ways that are evident and hidden is a sign of respect and gratitude. There are so many heroes and saints in our midst. Workers and professionals have faced many challenges brought on by the pandemic and the disastrous effects of climate change. Early in the pandemic, I am told that people spontaneously thanked others for coming to work. As the pandemic time persists and the spirits grow weary, perhaps the Faith in our hearts will inspire us to speak a kind word to another. A gentle word and our care are much appreciated acts of encouragement and support.

During this Season of Advent, may God who calls you to prepare for the coming of His Son, inspire you with His peace, hope, love, and joy!

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Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

Dec. 3, 2021

A shrine to Our Lady of Lavang

11/2/2021

A shrine to Our Lady of Lavang in the parish of St. Vincent Liem, Calgary has recently been built and blessed, and is the pride and joy of the Vietnamese community in the city.

Fr. Joseph Canh Vu, pastor of St. Francis Assisi parish and former pastor of St. Vincent Liem parish (2009-2017), says the Blessed Virgin Mary is an important part of the Vietnamese Catholic culture and the shrine has become popular for those who want to pray and honour the Holy Mother of God.

The shrine is devoted to the story of Our Lady who is said to have appeared many times in Lavang, Vietnam in 1798.

“The Vietnamese people are fond of the devotion of the Virgin Mary in Vietnam. Families say the Rosary often before going to bed,” said Father Joseph. “In Vietnam, it’s a tradition to devote ourselves to the Virgin Mary.

“The community is very excited. When people come to Mass, or even weekday Mass, they go to say a prayer in front of the shrine.”

St. Vincent Liem Church, which is located in the Forest Lawn neighbourhood, was formerly in Inglewood. After years of growth in Inglewood, the Church made the bold move to build a new Church where it is located today at 2412 48th Street SE. The current pastor of the church is Fr. Nguyễn Đức Vượng. The associate pastor is Fr. Phạm Công Liêm.

The new church was dedicated on July 11, 2015 by Bishop Emeritus Frederick Henry of the Calgary Diocese. It is known for its grandeur and modern architecture, featuring an open concept, natural lighting, and the versatile design with a touch of the Vietnamese heritage.

In the years 2009-2010, the St. Vincent Liem parish in Inglewood began to seriously contemplate building a new Church. The number of people attending Mass was increasing. Parking for the weekend was increasingly becoming more difficult.

From 2011 to 2013, the parish began planning the construction of a new Church. On June 15, 2013, the first broken stone officially opened the construction of a new Church in the Forest Lawn area. After the new Church was built, on May 16, 2015, the statue of Our Lady was moved and temporarily placed at the back area of the Church as a place for parishioners to pray.

On March 25, the parish held a Mass for the laying of the first stone to inaugurate the construction of the shrine. The project was completed in early October. On Oct. 10, Bishop William McGrattan officially blessed the shrine of Our Lady of Lavang.

Myloan Dang, who is a secretary and a bookkeeper for the parish, said the shrine is very important to the parishioners.

“From the beginning when we moved here we planned to build the shrine for Our Lady of Lavang back in 2013-2014 when the Church was completed,” said Dang.

“A lot of parishioners were longing to have it done. And they said they would do anything to help out whatever that is. It’s not just the people in our Church. We had lots of people outside the Church in the Vietnamese community who were very helpful to us. That’s what really motivated us - the people in the Vietnamese community came together and worked together to get this done.”

According to the Roman Catholic Saints website, “the fact that the Blessed Virgin visited a small group of Catholics in the little jungle village of Lavang, in Vietnam, in 1798, is not surprising to anyone who knows the ways of the Mother of God. She has always been faithful to her children by grace.”

On one such evening, they were first frightened and then enchanted to behold a Woman and Child standing nearby in a mysterious glow of light. Simple as these people were, some among them recognized the Virgin Mother and Her Child. All listened entranced while Mary told them softly that she was fully aware of their hardships and of their chronic sickness due to contaminated water. She told them to gather certain leaves that grew near and make a strong tea of them; this would keep them healthy. Solemnly she added, 'From this day on, prayers said on this spot will be heard – and answered.'”

More information on Our Lady of Lavang can be found here.

More photos from the blessing of The Shrine of Our Lady of Lavang with Bishop McGrattan are available here

Written by Mario Toneguzzi for Faithfully. Mario is a veteran writer living in Calgary with his wife Marlene and their three children. They attend St. Peter's and St. Stephen's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Calgary. Mario was recently named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the world.

Listen to "A dram with Mario Toneguzzi" with host Sean Lynn from God Squad Canada.

Catholic Education Sunday 2021

10/26/2021

A message from the Alberta Bishops for Catholic Education Sunday - Nov 7, 2021

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The fourth wave of this pandemic continues to challenge us. In the midst of illness, uncertainty and insecurity, these prophetic words of Jeremiah resonate deeply: “I will heal your wounds,” says the Lord. “I will restore you to health.” These words offer comfort and hope to our Catholic school communities here in Alberta as they celebrate Catholic Education Sunday on November 7, 2021. In solidarity with our fellow Ontario Catholic educators, we embrace the theme: Catholic Education: Rebuild, Restore, Renew Together.

The difficult circumstances of these past two years have placed upon our families the heavy burden of worry and uncertainty as they strove to support the educational learning of their children. Our Catholic schools worked closely with parents through the dedicated efforts of trustees, superintendents, teachers and staff, all deeply committed to fulfilling the vision of Catholic education for more than 183,500 students in 450 schools across the province of Alberta. The many acts of sacrificial love made for the sake of our students give witness to our faith, and serve to rebuild, restore and renew Catholic education. Together, our parish and school communities encourage parents to continue to choose a Catholic school for their children. We are grateful for the treasure that is Catholic education, and are eager to share it.
Catholic Education Sunday is an annual event that serves to celebrate the important and critical role that our Catholic schools play in the province of Alberta. It provides us with an opportunity to recognize the vibrant faith that is the foundation of our Catholic schools, and encourages us to reflect with gratitude on the countless blessings to be found within the Catholic educational community. Catholic Education Sunday also serves to challenge each of us to step forward as advocates, inspired and emboldened to ensure the future of Catholic education as an essential dimension of the mission of the Church.

We, the Bishops of Alberta, recognize the vital role of Catholic education in the life and future of the Church and society. We are deeply committed to ensuring the integrity of our Catholic schools and the gift of faith offered to our students and their families. With hope and boldness, we must rebuild, restore and renew together the wonderful legacy of Catholic education.

As the pandemic continues to challenge us, we encourage all who have worked tirelessly to promote Catholic education to stay strong, continue your good work, pray for inspiration and guidance, and be strengthened in the promise offered to all believers: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”. (1Peter 5:10)

In this Year of St Joseph, during May’s Catholic Education Week, we consecrated all of Alberta’s Catholic schools to the loving care of St Joseph. As we continue to ask for the intercession of our patron saint, we call all the faithful across our province to unite in a novena prayer for our Catholic Schools.

Publicly funded Catholic education is a gift which must not be taken for granted. Our commitment to Catholic education is steadfast. Together with the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA), the Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta (CCSSA) and Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education (GrACE), we shall continue our efforts to ensure the future of Catholic education in our province.

United in prayer, let us humbly and confidently ask our loving God to rebuild, restore and renew all of our Catholic schools through His providential care.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Catholic Bishops of Alberta and NWT

Download Resources

Bishops' Letter Regarding Catholic Education Sunday (ENG | FR)
Prayer of the Faithful petitions for Catholic Education Sunday
- That our Catholic schools may be inspired by the example of the many great saints who have gone before them and who intercede for them, we pray to the Lord...
- That our Catholic schools may reveal the glory of God in all that they do, we pray to the Lord...
Poster for Catholic Education Sunday (ENG | FR)
Novena for Catholic Education (ENG | FR)
GRaCE Catholic Education Sunday newsletter (PDF)
Online collection for Catholic Education Sunday is available at: catholicyyc.ca/catholiceducationsunday

Catholic Bishops of Canada apologize to the Indigenous Peoples of this land

9/26/2021

The Catholic Bishops of Canada, gathered in Plenary this week, took the opportunity to affirm and acknowledge to the Indigenous Peoples the suffering experienced in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools. Many Catholic religious communities and dioceses participated in this system, which led to the suppression of Indigenous languages, culture and spirituality, failing to respect the rich history, traditions and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples. They acknowledged the grave abuses that were committed by some members of our Catholic community; physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, cultural, and sexual. They also sorrowfully acknowledged the historical and ongoing trauma and the legacy of suffering and challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples that continue to this day. Along with those Catholic entities which were directly involved in the operation of the schools and which have already offered their own heartfelt apologies, the Catholic Bishops of Canada expressed their profound remorse and apologized unequivocally.

Together with the many pastoral initiatives already underway in dioceses across the country, the Bishops pledged to undertake fundraising in each region of the country to support initiatives discerned locally with Indigenous partners. Furthermore, they invited the Indigenous Peoples to journey with us into a new era of reconciliation, helping us to prioritize initiatives of healing, to listen to the experience of Indigenous Peoples, especially to the survivors of Indian Residential Schools, and to educate our clergy, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful, on Indigenous cultures and spirituality. They further committed to continue the work of providing documentation or records that will assist in the memorialization of those buried in unmarked graves.

A delegation of Indigenous survivors, Elders/knowledge keepers, and youth will meet with the Holy Father in December 2021. Pope Francis will encounter and listen to the Indigenous Peoples, so as to discern how he can support our common desire to renew relationships and walk together along the path of hope in the coming years. The Bishops of Canada have pledged to work with the Holy See and our Indigenous partners on the possibility of a pastoral visit by the Pope to Canada as part of this healing journey.

We are committed to continue the journey with the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples of this land.

24 September 2021

READ LETTER OF APOLOGY

27 September 2021

The Bishops of Canada, as a tangible expression of their commitment to walk with the Indigenous Peoples of this land along the pathway of hope, are making a nation-wide collective financial commitment to support healing and reconciliation initiatives for residential school survivors, their families, and their communities.

With a target of $30 million over up to 5 years, this will include initiatives in every region of the country. The commitment will be achieved at the local level, with parishes across Canada being encourage to participate and amplify the effort.

READ PRESS RELEASE

Bishop's Pastoral Letter re: Exemption from COVID-19 vaccination

9/22/2021

September 22, 2021

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported each day has significantly increased in our province. This brings to the forefront of our consciousness the need to safeguard the common good, and in charity to promote the safety of others by protecting our individual health and that of society. In some provinces, the sectors of healthcare, education and social services, public agencies and corporations have begun to announce mandatory vaccination as requirement for their employees and the public. This has resulted in the Diocese and the parishes receiving from members of the faithful the request for letters of exemption from the mandatory vaccination based on the grounds of religious belief.

While the Diocese respects the freedom of a person’s individual conscience as the Church teaches, the Church and her ministers cannot objectively attest to or endorse a person’s process of discernment in coming to their decision of conscience. Therefore, the Diocese and the parishes will not be issuing any letters of exemption from vaccination.

The clergy has been strongly encouraged instead to accompany and assist those requesting such letters to know and understand the teachings of the Church on vaccination during this pandemic through statements released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and the pastoral letter provided by the Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

As stated by my brother Bishops and in communion with the Holy Father, it is morally permissible to receive a vaccine approved for use in Canada against COVID-19, and while there are many possible reasons for one to struggle in their conscience with such a vaccine being mandatory, the Diocese will not take the position or role of endorsing an individual’s conscience and decision.

If vaccination will be mandated, there must also be on the part of legitimate authorities, the necessary provisions of reasonable accommodation which respects and promotes the dignity of the individual conscience and the decision of conscientious objection. However, those who choose not to be vaccinated for whatever reason must do their utmost to ensure that they take all precautionary measures possible to avoid places and circumstances where they and others would be most vulnerable. They must also follow the health and safety measures not only to prevent contracting the virus for themselves but also preventing others from becoming sick. This is everyone’s moral responsibility.

Much prayer is needed in this time, in this polarized society, for those who have suffered so much and for those who continue to suffer from the reality of the pandemic. As Christians and people of goodwill, we must grow in our love and concern for others and use the gift of our freedom responsibly to help others especially those who are in most need.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

Growing stronger, growing deeper and reaching higher

9/13/2021

On my parish pastoral visit to St. Mary’s in January 2019 I had the opportunity to celebrate a Dedication Liturgy for the Chapel at Holy Family Academy. Some representative students and their parents were in attendance and it was a reminder of the importance of the triad relationship of family – school – parish which is so important for the mission of Catholic Education. This school also participated with the parish in outreach to the Newbrook Lodge seniors home where once a month students from one of the school grades participate in Mass, prayed the rosary and visited with those living at the Lodge. I was amazed at the impact that this pastoral initiative had on the seniors and the staff. As Pope Francis often mentions, grandparents are essential in the life of society, the Church and our parishes. This is a true example of the permeation of the faith in and through our Catholic schools. Students learn by example and by being involved through such acts of service.

At the middle school Christ the King Academy and the high school St. Joseph’s Collegiate I met with all the students and gave a talk on technology, the media and internet and then fielded their questions. Needless to say they were not shy but were also open to listen and to consider the benefits that we receive as well as the ethical challenges which we also face which can impact our dignity as human beings.

In the discussions I touch upon how sometimes our experience of truth and beauty is altered through the media. At the conclusion of the session, the students encouraged one of their peers who possessed a developing artistic talent to share a picture that he had drawn of Christ as a child in the carpentry shop with St. Joseph. I was struck by the symbolism of what he had drawn. The picture showed Joseph’s back busy working at a table and the young child Jesus bending over to pick up some nails that had fallen on the ground. As the light was shining in through the window onto the back of Jesus what you saw depicted across his back and tiny shoulders was the shadow of the cross. This memory has always stayed with me from that visit to the schools in Brooks is that in the wisdom of the Church our teaching of the truths of our faith are expressed in many mediums as depicted through such pictures of art. For students the human gifts of learning, art, music and even sports can that take on a deeper and more profound meaning in our Catholic schools. As Father Ronald Knox once stated about the unique identity of Catholic schools “ they fly to the heart of things” that truly matter. I pray that this will continue to be the experience in the Catholic schools in Brooks.

As the community of Brooks and St Mary’s parish celebrate 25 years of Catholic education, I offer my heartfelt support and congratulations. It is evident that the faith and commitment shown by the early founders have allowed Brooks’ Catholic schools to flourish. Despite opposition, challenges, and times of despair, Catholic education in Brooks continues to grow stronger, grow deeper and reach higher. I will persist in my prayers for Catholic education in this community, across the diocese of Calgary and throughout Alberta.

Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

September, 2021

I will give you shepherds after my own heart

6/11/2021

At St. Peter’s Seminary where I was a rector before being named a bishop by Pope Benedict, the mission of our formation ministry was guided by this verse from scripture, “Dabo vobis pastores iuxta cor meumn, et pascent vos scientia et doctrina - I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they will feed you with wisdom and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). The Solemnity of the Most Sacred of Jesus is the very heart of God spoken by Jeremiah, and it is to be the model of a priest’s heart in the exercise of his ministry.

Having been rector in the seminary for many years, I have met many seminarians who walked through the doors of the seminary and after years of formation became ordained for service in the ministerial priesthood or through discernment discovered that we were being called to another path in life. Whether or not they found their vocation ultimately in the priesthood, the call to have the heart of Jesus is one that we all have received in our baptism to the ongoing conversion that we experience through God’s loving mercy.

Many factors shape our lives… personal life history and experiences, attitudes and personality flaws, the brokenness of our humanity, and personal sinfulness can prevent us from having the heart of Jesus. Yet our hope lies in the love and mercy of the Lord Himself who calls us to follow Him even in the midst of struggles and suffering. It is He, after all, who shows us the way of love and provides the grace that we need to live this love in becoming His disciples.

In recent weeks there is a lot of pain in the heart of our Lord with the reality of the suffering brought about by the long history of residential schools in our country. If our hearts are truly patterned after our Lord then our hearts will also be filled with sorrow and will grieve for our indigenous sisters and brothers who are suffering once again this trauma. Pope Francis, in his message after the Angelus on June 6, said, “These difficult times are a strong call for all of us to turn away from the colonial model and from ideological colonisations, and to walk side by side in dialogue, mutual respect and recognition of the rights and cultural values of all the daughters and sons of Canada.” Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we need to discover the strength to carry the cross and to acknowledge how we have contributed to the crosses that others have had to carry in their lives. This is the path of justice, healing, and reconciliation which flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

We turn to the Lord for mercy. We also ask the Lord to help us grow in compassion. As Christians, we desire for our hearts to be formed after the heart of our Lord Jesus in His wisdom, understanding, and most of all in seeking forgiveness from others.

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Written by Most Revered William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary

June 11, 2021

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The reported discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian residential school has shocked the consciousness of our country, its people, the Church, and the world to the painful and dark reality of our Canadian Indian residential school system. This has also surfaced once again the suffering and trauma which continues to mark the lives of our indigenous brothers and sisters and their communities.

On behalf of the people of the Diocese of Calgary, I personally share in this devastating sorrow and express my deepest regret at the loss of the lives of these children and the enduring pain which residential schools have caused within our indigenous communities. In solidarity, we must act in the pursuit of justice, reconciliation, and true healing.

As the Bishop of Calgary, through this statement, I personally recommit the Diocese in expressing the apology and regret made by the Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories in 2014 to our indigenous brothers and sisters.

We, the Catholic Bishops of Alberta and Northwest Territories, apologize to those who experienced sexual and physical abuse in Residential Schools under Catholic administration.

We also express our apology and regret for Catholic participation in government policies that resulted in children being separated from their families, and often suppressed Aboriginal culture and language at the Residential Schools.

We commit ourselves to work in the Catholic community and the wider society to challenge attitudes of racism and prejudice that continue to exist in Alberta and Canada today. Aboriginal communities still face many serious issues that go beyond what will be addressed at the TRC, including land, treaty rights, education, health care, housing, jobs, and environmental threats.

We will continue to find ways for Catholics, together with other concerned Canadians, to support more effectively Aboriginal peoples in their ongoing struggles to achieve justice and equity in Canadian society.

The picture and images of children’s shoes placed at the front steps with lit candles remind us of the voices of these children and the need for restorative justice. In prayer, we unite ourselves with our suffering brothers and sisters so that the Spirit will show us the path of solidarity in promoting true justice and healing.

For those families deeply impacted, we ask for the intercession of St. Kateri Tekakwitha for them to receive consolation, healing, and strength.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

+William T. McGrattan
Bishop of Calgary

June 4, 2021

Questions and Answers

Statements

CCCB - Delegation to Holy See
A message from Pope Francis
A message from Bishop McGrattan
A message from Calgary Catholic School District on the renaming of Bishop Grandin High School.
A message from Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
A joint video statement from Chief Littlechild and Archbishop Richard Smith. Watch Statement | Interview
2014 Pastoral letter from Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories on Truth and Reconciliation
CCCB Resources: Past statements | Encounter with the Popes | Initiatives

Learn about Residential Schools

Crisis line for Indian Residential School survivors and family: 1-866-925-4419

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There were 25 residential schools in the Province of Alberta. See: Residential Schools in Canada Map. Four of them operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) were within the boundaries of the Diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary did not run any residential schools. Below are links to the four residential schools:

St. Joseph’s Residential School (Crowfoot) - Cluny, Alberta (1900-1968) operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) and Sisters of Providence
St. Mary’s Residential School (Kainai) - Cardston, Alberta (1898-1988) operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) and Grey Nuns of Montreal
Sacred Heart Residential School (Peigan) - Brocket, Alberta (1887-1961) operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) and Grey Nuns of Montreal
St. Joseph’s Industrial School (Dunbow) - East of Okotoks, near the junction of the Bo and Highwood Rivers (1884-1922) operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) and Grey Nuns of Montreal

Truth and Reconciliation Findings

A Catholic response to Call to Action 48 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

A brief guide about Treaty & Alberta Treaty Map (Alberta Teachers Association)

Let us join in prayer:

For the children who died in the former Kamloops Indian Residential School and for all those impacted by this tragedy, that there may be healing founded on truth and that the Spirit will inspire our ongoing commitment to reconciliation. Amen.