Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Monday, July 13, 2020

Archbishop Moses M. Costa, C.S.C., Dies of COVID-19 Complications



Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC, of the Diocese of Dinajpur,
Bangladesh, visiting the Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada


Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC, in front of the Niagara Falls

Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC (3rd from left) 
with Mrs. Mary D'Costa and her sons Ujjal Peter D'Costa,
and Shouvik Mikhail D'Costa at the Niagara Falls,
Ontario, Canada

Mrs. Mary D'Costa and her son Ujjal Peter D'Costa
with Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC at the Niagara Falls,
Ontario, Canada

Bishop Moses M. Costa, CSC (5th from left) and
Mrs. Mary D'Costa (1st from right) pose with some
American visitors at the Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

All the photos above by Jerome D'Costa (July 2002)


Archbishop Moses M. Costa, C.S.C., of the Archdiocese of Chattogram (Chittagong), Bangladesh, died on July 13 at the Square Hospital in Dhaka of COVID-19-related multiple strokes caused by a brain hemorrhage. He was 69 years old.

His body was taken to nearby Tejgaon Catholic Church in Dhaka and then to his village home parish church of Tumilia in Gazipur District before his burial at the Chattogram Catholic cathedral graveyard.

On June 13, Archbishop Moses was admitted to the Square Hospital with severe respiratory distress and cough and the following day he was diagnosed with COVID-19. He was recovering from it, but later on July 9 he suffered brain strokes and was put on life support two days later. With the further deterioration of his condition, he was transferred to the intensive care unit where he ultimately died.

He was well-known in Bangladesh for his selfless work among students, youths, seminarians, and disadvantaged people of different ethnicities and faiths. He is being mourned by them all.

Archbishop Moses Costa, son of Hiron Pundit (teacher), was born on November 17, 1950, at the village of Tumilia. He had several brothers and sisters, among whom three -- Sister Mary Catherine, S.M.R.A., Sister Mary Tara, S.M.R.A., and Sister Mary Bibha, S.M.R.A. -- became nuns.

He became a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross on February 5, 1981. Later, on July 20, 1996, he was named the bishop of the Diocese of Dinajpur. On April 6, 2011, he was appointed the Bishop of Chattogram Diocese. Pope Francis, in 2017, elevated the Diocese of Chattogram into an archdiocese and appointed him the first archbishop of Chattogram on February 2, 2017. In both the dioceses he served, he worked relentlessly for the spiritual upliftment of his Catholic folk.

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Saturday, December 1, 2018

Squirrel Nests in Toronto


Squirrel nests in Scarborough of Toronto

(To see the photo on an enlarged form, click on the above image)
Photo (April 2, 2018) © Jerome D'Costa

To read our earlier blog post on the same subject, click on Squirrel Nests Add Beauty To A Denuded Tree



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Sunday, November 11, 2018

Two Poems On The Remembrance Day Of Canada


A poppy field in remembrance of the Canadian war dead
Artwork (Toronto: November 2018) © Mary D'Costa


Canadians, at 11 a.m. on November 11 every year, observe a moment of silence in honour and remembrance of the dedicated soldiers who gave their lives and the living ones who continue to serve in the army during wars and conflicts. Those who died fighting for freedom and peace in the First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1953), and Afghanistan War (2001-2014) are especially remembered.

To learn more, please read the following:



On the occasion of the Remembrance Day in Canada, we present below Adrian D'Costa's two poems. 



Blood Soaked Poppies

By Adrian D’Costa

Armistice Day was it. So, they call it.
A break from the war.
Then again, the barrage of fire started.
Our boys and girls fought there at the Flanders Fields.

The blood that gushed out of their body
Filled the emptiness left behind by enemies.
Enemy soldiers were killing whoever was on their way.
Each day’s bloodshed grew new poppies in the field.
Poppy grew one after another. And another. And another.
Soon they make the field red.

Bloody was it. The field was red blood.
The roads were blood-soaked muddy.
But our boys stayed strong.
Our girls stayed steadfast.
They knew what they were there for.
They knew it from the beginning.
So, they sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice.

Now they are written in the stone walls of the world.
At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 
we cease to exist and remember them out of respect.
History will repeat again
If we forget the past over and over
And the same mistake will emerge out of darkness.
Will eat our lives alive.
So, we bow our heads in silence for two minutes.
Lest we forget.




Peace In A No Man’s Land

By Adrian D’Costa


Peace. What is the true nature of Thou
in thy own poppy field?
Are you the melted poppy in the Flanders Fields
or are you the old forgotten poppy in
the Arlington Cemetery?

Then why do I bow my head
on the Remembrance Day?
If the poppy reminds us the
wet, muddy and bloody war history
then why do we bear weapons 
against our brethren and sisters?

After every soldier’s fall
the 21-gun salute
rings from one end of the earth
to another.
Then on the next second why
another one drenches his
suit with the red blood of his own?

Why the canon ball rises high up in the air
and doesn’t strike our moral conscience?
Peace, are you that fragile?
Are you a being or an innate object
played by monstrous monstrosity?

Why the decapitated mind of falsification
hides the truth from the fact?
Why Peace lies to humanity repeatedly
and tries to make amend for the errors made before?

I lie here and try to fathom
the diluted mind of anguish.
After a lot of soul searching
I define peace to be a part of the moral compass
that each and everyone possesses
to make this world a better place.

It’s not the fault of the peace though,
that the world is in entropy and in disarray.
The war in the field, the mines in the battleground --
They are not part of the peace.
They are what they are.
They are absolute wretchedness of social autocracy.
I can be superior to them.
That’s the pride.
And that’s the first reason in the causal effect.


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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Canada Makes Recreational Use of Cannabis Legal


Cannabis (also called Marijuana)

Seeding of Cannabis plants
Photos courtesy: pixabay.com/

Call it cannabis, or marijuana, pot, weed, drug, bud -- they usually mean the same. It was a prohibited item in Canada for the last 95 years. From today, October 17, 2018, cannabis is legal all over Canada, which, after Uruguay, is the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Previously, medical use of cannabis or marijuana was legal under strict conditions. Liberal Party's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the initiative to legalize cannabis use for the recreational purpose like smoking of cigarettes. 

This is a drug -- it has its good effects if used properly, but it also has serious ill effects if used irresponsibly. In Canada, only adults are allowed to use it recreationally. 

Parents and guardians with children are wary of this new legalization. They are not much aware of the physical and mental effects of this drug on children, adolescents, and early youths. What about persons getting allergic to cannabis? If, what will happen and what to do, by chance, children eat edible cannabis sold in the form of brownies, candies, etc.? What will the real effect be on driving under cannabis influence? They don't know. They also don't know the effect it will have on criminal activities if persons are high on cannabis. What about home and condo owners not willing to rent out rooms to cannabis smokers? 

As the days go by, the Canadian government has to be vigilant and responsible on these matters. 

To learn more about the pros and cons of cannabis and its use, please click on the following:


Lessons from Cannabis Legalization in Colorado State, U.S.A.


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Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas To You All!


Photo (An enchanting Christmas lighting of a household in Scarborough, Toronto: Dec. 15, 2017) © Jerome D'Costa

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Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Quotation of the Week (November 26 - December 2, 2017)


A quotation of Justin Trudeau on 'freedom,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A plaque at Port Carling, Ontario, Canada: September 3, 2017) Photo © Jerome D'Costa

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Thursday, October 19, 2017

Canadian Music Icon Gord Downie Is No More


Gord Downie speaks at the Assembly of the First Nations (AFN) Special Chiefs' Assembly at Gatineau, Quebec, on December 6, 2016. He was honoured there for his support of the indigenous peoples of Canada. 
Photo courtesy of  Camera Press via cbc.ca/

Gord Downie, a highly esteemed Canadian musician, lyricist and activist for indigenous peoples, died in Kingston, Ontario, on October 17 suffering from an incurable brain cancer, known as 'glioblastoma.'  He was 53. 

He was the frontman for the rock band Tragically Hip that enjoyed Canada's love and popularity. 

Also known as Gordon Edgar Downie or Gordon Downie, he was born at Amhertview near Kingston, Ontario, on February 6, 1964. 

To know more on him, please read the following:



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Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Canadian Grandfather, Father, and Grandson Share the Same Birthday, September 22


(L-R): Kevin Warner, his son Lucas Warner, and his grandson Cooper Warner share the same birthday
Photo courtesy: www.bbc.com/

Canada's Alberta province resident Kevin Warner (born on Sept. 22, 1959), his son Lucas Warner (born on Sept. 22, 1992), and his grandson (born on Sept. 22, 2017) have the same birthday and all of them are the first-born sons!

According to a mathematician, the probability of having this phenomenon is one in 130,000.

For more, please read the following:

There are other similar or quasi-similar cases that happened elsewhere. For details, click on the following:


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Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Quotation of the Week (July 30 - August 5, 2017)


A quotation of Henry George on 'the equal right of all men to the use of land,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A Canada goose in Toronto: April 12, 2014) © Jerome D'Costa

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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Guerrilla Archiving Trying to Save Data from Climate Change Foes


Image design on 'Guerrilla Archiving' by Jerome D'Costa
'Guerrilla archiving' is a new concept that's being hastily implemented now. It is a quick and concerted collaborative effort of many in copying and saving data on environment,  global warming, and climate change from U.S. federal government servers to safe servers elsewhere in the U.S.A. and Canada for fear of this data being lost or willfully being deleted by climate change foes in the coming Donald Trump government, starting from January 20, 2017. 

Donald Trump in his election campaign speeches denied the climate change, terming it a hoax invented by the Chinese. He also in the mean time nominated a climate change denier as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under these circumstances, environmentalists and climate change researchers are worried about losing years of climate and environmental research for future generations. The guerrilla archiving is trying to counter this. 

For more, click on the following:


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Sunday, March 20, 2016

The Quotation of the Week (March 20 - 26, 2016)


A quotation of Pope Francis on 'the purpose of the Church's existence,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A regular morning meeting of birds on electric lines in Scarborough of Toronto, Canada: January 9, 2016) © Jerome D'Costa

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Sunday, December 13, 2015

The Quotation of the Week (December 13 - 19, 2015)


A quotation of Charlie Parker on 'music,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A musician at Dundas Subway Train Station in Toronto: Oct. 25, 2013) © Jerome D'Costa

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Sunday, December 6, 2015

The Quotation of the Week (December 6 - 12, 2015)


A quotation of George Carlin on 'three types of people,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Artwork © Ujjal Peter D'Costa

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

The Quotation of the Week (November 1 - 7, 2015)


A quotation of John Atkinson on 'running one's own life," compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A wood-carved Hindu deity at Karaikudi Chettinad Restaurant in Scarborough, Toronto: June 28, 2013) © Jerome D'Costa

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Monday, October 26, 2015

Justin Trudeau Elected New Prime Minister of Canada


Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau is the new Prime Minister of Canada after October 19 election defeat of incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper
A post-election cartoon on Justin Trudeau and a long list of his electioneering promises that need to be realized now
Cartoon courtesy: National Post

Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party, in the October 19 election, won 184 parliamentary seats out the total of 338 and is now set to form the majority government. As the leader of this party Justin Trudeau will be the next Prime Minister replacing the incumbent Stephen Harper. 

The Conservative Party (PC) won 102 seats, New Democratic Party (NDP) 44 seats, Bloc Quebecois 10 seats, and the Green Party 1 seat. In the 2011 election, the Liberal Party was in the third position.

Trudeau is the son of Pierre Eliott Trudeau, who was Canada's Prime Minister twice -- once from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. His father died in 2000. 

Many of the newly-elected Liberal Party MPs are brand new. These rookie members of the parliament will be like "kids in the candy store!" Justin Trudeau needs to give them a thorough orientation, training and mentoring so that they devote their work in the service of all people in their ridings rather than accumulate wealth and prestige, speak trash out of euphoria, and create scandals. 

For more on the election and Justine Trudeau, please read the following:



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Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Quotation of the Week (October 18 - 24, 2015)


A quotation of Pope Francis on 'modern economy,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (Grand Bend Beach, Ontario, Canada: Sept. 8, 2013) © Jerome D'Costa

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Saturday, August 15, 2015

THE CATHOLIC REGISTER: A Publication of Toronto



It's the official weekly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. It provides news, features and articles on different aspects of Catholic life and the Church -- local and global. 

It's online edition is available at: The Catholic Register



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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Nunavut Gets Its First Mosque


A mosque under construction in  Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital city
 Photo courtesy: Toronto Star

Map of Nunavut, a Canadian territory
Map courtesy: www.geology.com/

Nunavut's first mosque in its capital city of Iqaluit, spearheaded by Syed Asif Ali, a Muslim immigrant engineer from Pakistan, is proceeding to its completion, reports the Toronto Star.
It will be the first mosque in the entire territory of Nunavut which has a Muslim population of about 100. These immigrant Muslims, coming from different countries, migrated to Iqluit from various Canadian provinces for job purposes. In the meantime, some of these Muslims married local women and a number of local people also embraced Islam as their religion. 

As the church is an integral part of any Christian community, so is the mosque for the Muslims. This need for a place of worship is being realized today through donations from Muslims as well as non-Muslims. 

Nunavut is a Canadian 'territory' -- not a province -- with an area of 2,093,190 sq. kilometres, and, according tot he 2011 census, its population is 31,906 -- of whom, 83.6% is Inuit ('Eskimo'), 14.96% non-aboriginals, 0.44% Metis, and 0.34% the First Nations people.

In each July, the average temperature in Nunavut varies from 4 to 11 degree Celsius, and in January it goes down to -21 to -33 degree Celsius.

For more on the mosque and the Muslims in Iqaluit, please read the following:


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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

'Angshik Holeo Shotto' Is A Book of Reminiscence


The cover of the book, Angshik Holeo Shotto

David Swapan Rozario's book, Angshik Holeo Shotto (It's true, though partially), is a 228-page Bengali-language book, published in January this year. This book reminisces his childhood and adolescent experiences at Rangamatia Village of Gazipur

District, Bangladesh; his work life at the Bangladesh Biman Airlines offices in Dhaka and certain other countries; some observations on Catholic religious teachings, Christmas season, and some personalities; and his and his wife's travels to different cities of India, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Canada, and the USA.

The 37 topics, written in the popular style, make interesting reading. 

The book was published from Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Canadians Being Ambivalent About Religion


A map of Canada
 Map courtesy: Shutterstock.com

A recent Angus Reid Institute survey shows that Canadians "are increasingly becoming ambivalent about religion or rejecting it outright, but people across the religion spectrum admire the Pope," reports The Catholic Register of Toronto.

The online survey of 3,041 Canadians shows that 30% are inclined to embrace religion, 26% inclined to reject religion, but the largest group of 44% are ambivalent about religion.

For more on this, you may read the full report in The Catholic Register



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