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According to Jewish law, a synagogue is defined as any place where 10 men can gather for worship and study. Tradition holds that the synagogue was established to provide an alternative for those who were unable to travel to the temple in Jerusalem.
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Wat Yanviriya was the first Thai BUDDHIST temple in Canada (wat means temple-monastery). In 1992 Lord Abbot Luang Phor Viriyang Sirintharo established Wat Yanviriya in a converted Christian church in East Vancouver.
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The first official, annual Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated on 6 November 1879, though Indigenous peoples in Canada have a history of celebrating the fall harvest that predates the arrival of European settlers. Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew are credited as the first Europeans to celebrate a Thanksgiving ceremony in North America, in 1578. They were followed by the inhabitants of New France under Samuel de Champlain in 1606. The celebration featuring the uniquely North American turkey, squash and pumpkin was introduced to Nova Scotia in the 1750s and became common across Canada by the 1870s. In 1957, Thanksgiving was proclaimed an annual event to occur on the second Monday of October. It is an official statutory holiday in all provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
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Editorial
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. It has become common knowledge that the first Thanksgiving in North America was held by Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew in Nunavut in 1578. There are those — mainly Americans upset by the thought of having their holiday co-opted — who argue that it wasn't a “real” Thanksgiving. I would counter that Frobisher had reason to give thanks, and that giving thanks was an important aspect of Elizabethan society, so it would have been a natural thing for him and his men to do.
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This article is from our Toronto Feature series. Features from past programs are not updated.
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Article
Two-Spirit, a translation of the Anishinaabemowin term niizh manidoowag, refers to a person who embodies both a masculine and feminine spirit. The concept of two-spirit was first introduced by Elder Myra Laramee. Activist Albert McLeod helped develop the term in 1990 to broadly reference Indigenous peoples in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Two-spirit is used by some Indigenous peoples to describe their gender, sexual and spiritual identity. (See also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada.)
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Article
Ukrainian and Greek Orthodox church music. Ukrainian religious music was brought to Canada from Ukraine in the early 1890s with the first wave of immigration (the first Ukrainian Orthodox Church was erected in Gardenton, Man in 1899).
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Ultramontanism was a school of thought of the Catholic Church which promoted supreme papal authority in matters of spirituality and governance. Ultramontanism rejected modern ideals in favour of the supremacy of Catholicism and the Catholic Church in public life. This school of thought was particularly influent in the French-Canadian society during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
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Unitarians, adherents to a religious movement which originated in 16th-century Europe and whose members profess a holistic approach to religion. This has been theologically expressed in an emphasis upon the undivided unity of God, though many Unitarians now prefer to use nontheological language.
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The United Church of Canada was formed 10 June 1925 by union of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Methodist Church (Canada, Newfoundland and Bermuda), the Congregational Churches of Canada, and the General Council of Local Union Churches. In the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), 2,007,610 Canadians identified as members of the United Church of Canada.
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Coined by 19th century anthropologists, the term “vision quest” describes a spiritual journey in various Indigenous cultures in which participants, often adolescents, are said to receive sacred knowledge and strength from the spirit world. Practised as a rite of passage among some Indigenous cultures in North America, such as the Siksika (Blackfoot), Cree, Anishinaabe (including the Ojibwe) and Inuit, vision quests reflect the role of spirituality and contemplative thinking in Indigenous cultures, and provide an important connection between the participant, the Creator and nature. Though reduced as a practice following colonization, vision quests remain part of the cultural traditions of Indigenous populations in Canada in the modern era.
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The World Sikh Organization (WSO) of Canada is a non-profit organization. As an advocate for human rights in Canada, Punjab and around the world, WSO Canada has been involved in several significant court cases. This has helped develop Canadian human rights laws and customs.
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