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fconomishtffmrtr 3 catholicism is changing to attract inactive members back to the church back by mike adler staff writer maura goguen had been away from the catholic church for 30 years she went to a catholic school but when she moved in grade 7 her new catholic school wasnt the same her father still took goguen and her siblings to church but she didnt know anyone and the priest was speaking latin there was nothing for youth noth ing for teenagers it was boring to go to church the markham resident recalled last week we all just drifted away my father included we all just got involved in other things lina donofrio was brought up catholic and taught by nuns but since coming to canada from australia in 1990 she stopped going to church throughout my adult years it became a low priority for me she said but donofrio has recently started going to church at st patricks in markham where goguen sings in the folk group sunday at noon mass the women are back because active catholics in their parish offer a chance to ease back in to the church through a program called landings over 10 weeks a group of three inac tive catholics meets with six to eight churchgoers they share stories and try to relate experiences with the church as friends or neighbours ordinary peo ple one thing stressed is that catholicism itself is different its not the fear of god anymore its the love of god prevatican ii the second vatican council whose reforms dropped the latin mass in favour of the vernacular we did what we were told said mary matthews a parish volunteer in the landings program after vatican ii we got a sense that we are the church donofriowho had her first landings meeting recently found the rules of the church that bothered her had changed the fear as she called it was no longerthere theres none of that fear anymore which i was amazed to see because thats what you remember as a child agreed- goguen who was in the program last year its not the fear of god anymore its the love of god when he blessed the chapel at staff photosteve somerville trena finnegan left and kristina marks are among the organizers of landings a program that offers lapsed catholics a way to ease back in to the church at st patricks church brother andre catholic high school last week anthony meagher auxiliary bish op of toronto brought that message of love everyone is unique he said and jesus speaks to each heart differently jesus is keeping his promise of being right with us this month the pope himself apolo gized for the churchs historic wrongs against women heretics and followers of other religions trena finnegan a member of st patricks who calls inactive catholics the second biggest denomination in the world acknowledged people have had different reasons for leaving the church there is marriage outside the faith or divorce and remarriage some people get angry a priest said something said finnegan or else felt the priest wasnt around when there was an illness in the family landings is in many north american churches st marks in stouffville will be trying it this fall and the program is off the ground at st mary immaculate in richmond hill helping people thinking of returning come to grips with what bothers the n about the church according to parish volunteer joe damico the catholic church can seem mam moth he added and the program shows its human face were not a bunch of evangelists were just regular people damico said this week st mary immaculate and st patricks have many more worshippers than they can hold at once kristina marks who welcomes new parishioners at st patricks believes it could be overwhelming to walk inside- and not know anyone her first time there on sunday donofrio although she had been wel comed by friendly people felt a bit ner vous and thought theyre all looking at me landings isnt a refuge for the trou bled she addedpeople said why are you doing this are you ill it was just the right time donofrio said last year goguen went to the recon ciliation service at st patricks before easter and found that sitting with a priest in confession face to face and out in the open didnt bother her she felt good afterwards it was a great burden off my shoul ders she said joan ransberry klees must rip up pc membership my mpp should resign if oak ridges mpp frank klees wants to run canada he should start by filing for a divorce from the progressive conservatives with no help from me last summer oak ridges vot ers elected klees on a pc ticket voters thought nothing of it klees looked like a tory talked like a tory and as far as anyone knew was a tory ontario liked mike harris they liked the pcs oh what a difference a year makes while ontario still loves mike and his pcs klees is having an identity crisis the man doesnt know if hes a priest or a rabbi recently klees crisscrossed the country making all kinds of noise about wanting to be the prime minister of canada by leading the new federal canadian alliance party while klees was testing the waters and checking the financial cost of soaring to the top he was supposed to be representing my interests at queens park when the reform party folded to make way for the new ca i couldnt help but ask who is this party allied with lets look at the options pc leaderjoe clark has made it clear the ca is no friend of hi clarks not giving up the flagship despite the fact thahnlhe past two years his partys member ship plummeted to 1 1000 from a high of 90000 when the reform party killed itself it had 75000 members as soon as the death certificate was issued ca officials figured every member of the reform party switched over while ive heard nothing to the contrary i can only assume the canadian alliance is not about to marry the new democratic party opposites attract but not that much and the chances of convincing the liberals to wipe the smug smiles from their faces take off the crown and drop the reigns to canada is too bizaare to think about the ca is not targeting pc leader joe clark instead the new partys sights are set clearly oh the pc mem bership the ca will raid the conservative camp expecting federal tories to jump ship en masse leaving joe on deck all alone i know lots of tories under no circumstances will they leave party loyalty is a very real thing they are committed to the conservative philosophy these long standing tories will not jump in bed with preston stockwell or frank klees i wish the party brass and yes some politicians would learn to be as faithful i have no problem with the reform party changing its name nor do i object to klees wanting to lead the v newname party yet when oak ridges voted it elected a pc when marking the ballot oak ridges wasntvot- ing for a liberal a new democrat or a reformer nor was oak ridges giving a guy a job until a better offer came along if in klees heart and soulhe feel hes more suited to the ca then to the pcs then fine he should resign ancl then go for it image is everything shiraz proudly introduces his award winning team 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