Showing results by narrator "Ovide Bastien" in All Categories

When I was preparing to become a priest and missionary 52 years ago, I was then 23 years old and living in Ottawa. I wrote two memoirs for my master’s degree in philosophy. The first memoir was on the American psychotherapist Carl Rogers and the second one on the French philosopher Aimé Forest.

Cuando me preparaba para ser sacerdote y misionero hace cincuenta y siete años realicé dos investigaciones para mi máster en filosofía. La primera era sobre el psicoterapeuta estadounidense Carl Rogers y la segunda sobre el filósofo francés Aimé Forest. Hoy, con la retrospectiva que me permite medio siglo, estoy muy impresionado por el hecho de que las visiones del mundo que subyacen a la terapia centrada en la persona de Carl Rogers y al enfoque filosófico de Aimé Forest, que son sorprendentemente similares en aspectos fundamentales, siguen siendo no sólo muy relevantes.

Students sometimes ask questions whose depth is such that teachers have trouble coming up with answers. That is what happened to me on January 31, 1984, as I was teaching my Introduction to Economics course at Maisonneuve College in Montreal, Canada. Suddenly, a student raised her hand and asked me with great sincerity: “Sir, what makes the world go round, love or money?” Taken aback by the simplicity and depth of her question, I remained silent for a few seconds, made a few comments, and, remembering the lessons I had learned, asked them what they thought the answer was.

Depuis le début de sa papauté en 2013, le pape François se fait remarquer et admirer par ses prises de position étonnamment progressistes par rapport à la justice sociale et l’environnement. Et il dénonce haut et fort le cléricalisme qui existe dans l’Église catholique et a posé de nombreux gestes pour montrer qu’il cherche, comme pape, à s’en éloigner: il a choisi de vivre dans la résidence modeste Santa Marta au lieu des appartements pontificaux traditionnels; il a choisi une voiture usagée pour ses déplacements au lieu d’une limousine.

Desde el inicio de su papado en 2013, el papa Francisco ha sido elogiado y admirado por sus opiniones progresistas sobre la justicia social y la crisis climática. Y también ha denunciado el clericalismo que existe en la Iglesia católica y ha dado muchos pasos para demostrar que, como papa, quiere alejarse de ese clericalismo: eligió vivir en la modesta residencia de Santa Marta en lugar de los tradicionales apartamentos papales; eligió que le llevaran en un coche usado en lugar de la tradicional limusina papal.

Since the beginning of his papacy in 2013, Pope Francis has been praised and admired for his surprisingly progressive views on social justice and the climate crisis. And he has also been vocal about the clericalism that exists in the Catholic Church and taken many steps to show that he, as pope, wants to move away from such clericalism: he chose to live in the modest Santa Marta residence instead of the traditional papal apartments; he chose to be driven around in a used car instead of the traditional papal limousine.

I was plunged into such a deep shock and sadness, that I was forced to ask myself what had gone wrong. Why would my lifelong friend Tom, raised on the farm by a wonderful mom and dad exactly like I had been, end up doing such a horrible thing as abusing minors? Why in the world would such a thing ever happen in such an extraordinary, loving and close-knit family as that of Tom! Why?

Quand je me préparais à devenir prêtre et missionnaire il y a 52 ans - j'avais alors 23 ans et vivais à Ottawa - j’ai rédigé deux mémoires en vue de ma maîtrise en philosophie. Le premier mémoire portait sur le psychothérapeute américain Carl Rogers et le second sur le philosophe français Aimé Forest.

The diary and letters I wrote when I experienced the coup d'état that ousted Salvador Allende in Chile on Tuesday morning, 11 September 1973. This coup was carefully planned by the Chilean elite with the help of the CIA, and included propaganda, economic sabotage, torture, total press censorship, assassination, and a radical free market revolution leading to a gross gap between rich and poor.