About Ron Csillag

Ron Csillag joined RNS in March 2002 and covers eastern Canada. Based in Toronto, he contributes feature stories. He also writes about religion for the Toronto Star, and is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail and a variety of religious publications. His work has also appeared in the National Post. For 10 years, he was a reporter for the Canadian Jewish News, where he won a Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. In 2002, he was awarded an Eli Lilly Fellowship to complete the Specialized Reporting Program in Religion, Spirituality and Ethics at Northwestern University in Chicago. In January 2003, he was nominated by the Globe and Mailfor a National Newspaper Award. He has also worked as a television news producer in Montreal and Toronto. Csillag was born in Montreal and is a graduate of Concordia University’s journalism program.

Stories

Canadian flag image courtesy Alex Indigo via Flickr (http://flic.kr/p/4eDBug)

Canadians turning away from organized religion

TORONTO (RNS) A new national study shows that while Canada is still overwhelmingly Christian, Canadians are turning their backs on organized religion in ever greater numbers.

Peter Larisey seated alongside the Jesus sculpture. Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz notes the ironies in his latest creation, "Jesus the Homeless," a bronze sculpture depicting the Christian savior huddled beneath a blanket on an actual-size park bench. Only the feet are visible, and their gaping nail wounds reveal the subject. Photo courtesy Timothy Schmalz

Homeless Jesus sculpture searches for a home

TORONTO (RNS) Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz’s latest creation is a depiction of Jesus as a homeless man sleeping on a bench. The only problem? Churches he has offered the sculpture have turned him down.

Interior of a prison cell with light shining through a barred window. Photo courtesy Shutterstock (http://shutr.bz/104haw9)

Canadian prisoners sue over lack of chaplains

TORONTO (RNS) A group of prisoners in British Columbia is suing the Canadian government over a policy to cancel the contracts of non-Christian chaplains.

Panorama of Quebec City from Levis. RNS photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons (http://bit.ly/X6Q33A)

Quebec loses status as Canada’s most secular province

TORONTO (RNS) Are Quebecers getting more religious or are other Canadians getting more secular? Either way, Quebec is no longer Canada’s most secular province, according to a new report.

Canada names head of religious freedom office

TORONTO (RNS) After nearly two years of delay, Canada on Tuesday finally named its ambassador for the Office of Religious Freedom.

Catholic college engages atheism head-on

TORONTO (RNS) It’s an unlikely setting for an unlikely class. The chapel at Jesuit-run Regis College is adorned with stained glass, icons of Mary and Joseph, and the Stations of the Cross. The eight-week course being taught here is on atheism. More properly, “Responding to 21st-Century Atheism.”

Author Archives: Ron Csillag