Browse › 2017 › March

March 2017

March 7

D&P’s fifty years of solidarity celebrated

March 7, 2017

Toronto Development and Peace members celebrated a half-century of solidarity at a Mass in St. Michael’s Cathedral with Cardinal Thomas Collins March 4.

D&P’s aid work given three-year $28.5M boost by Global Affairs Canada

March 7, 2017

A $28.5 million vote of confidence from the federal government will help the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace deliver aid to refugees and war-affected Syrians, Iraqis and others over the next three years.

With passage in House, Philippines poised to reinstate death penalty

March 7, 2017

The Philippines stands poised to reinstate the death penalty after it was put on hold 11 years ago. The church in the Philippines, which has grown more vocal in recent months, continues to oppose the measure that passed the Philippine House on the third and final reading March 7 and is widely expected to move quickly through the Senate. This latest version specifically targets drug crimes.

In blunt talk at the Vatican, activist nun blasts ‘male power’

March 7, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Catholic activist Sister Simone Campbell has suggested that senior clergy at the Vatican are more preoccupied with power than confronting issues that affect the faithful, like clerical sexual abuse.

Pro-lifers lash out at Ottawa's pledge to ‘export’ abortions

March 7, 2017

OTTAWA –Pro-life groups are pushing back on social media against Canada’s commitment to fund abortion overseas and make it a “pillar” of international development policy.

March 8

ShareLife is stressing mission work in fundraising campaign

March 8, 2017

With a new vision guiding this year’s ShareLife campaign, the fundraising arm for the Archdiocese of Toronto charities, is hoping to secure more donations than ever to help those in need.

Bishop rejects South Sudan president's day of prayer as a political move

March 8, 2017

JUBA, South Sudan – The call by South Sudan's president for a national day of prayer was met with derision by one of the country's bishops, who called it a “political prayer” and a mockery.

The death penalty doesn't solve problems, archbishop tells UN

March 8, 2017

GENEVA, Switzerland – The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations reiterated the Vatican’s defence of all human life in a meeting with UN Human Rights Council on the death penalty.

For Canada's 150th, human rights museum selects seven stories aim to inspire

March 8, 2017

WINNIPEG – There are countless stories Canadians can and have shared over the nation’s history, but the Canadian Museum of Human Rights has zeroed in on seven unique, contemporary stories of people who overcame human rights challenges for its exhibit to mark Canada’s sesquicentennial.

Trust aims for $1 million to restore home of Ontario’s first bishop

March 8, 2017

OTTAWA – After saving the house of Ontario’s first bishop from the wrecking ball, a small private trust is now racing against the clock to raise funds to restore the heritage building and resurrect the memory of Bishop Alexander Macdonell.

U.K. church leaders: Pharmacists could be forced to dispense lethal drugs

March 8, 2017

MANCHESTER, England – The British Catholic Church has predicted that pharmacists could be forced to dispense lethal drugs under plans to prohibit conscientious objection on the grounds of religion.

Four nuns killed when truck hits van in Ethiopia

March 8, 2017

NEW YORK – Four Daughters of St. Anne sisters – including the provincial superior – were killed in a crash about 80 miles south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Catholic Near East Welfare Association reported.

Pope Francis has some ideas on how to fix the priest shortage

March 8, 2017

VATICAN CITY – In a newly-released interview Pope Francis discussed the shortage of vocations to the priesthood, saying the first response must be prayer. He also mentioned working with youth, the low birthrate, and the ordination of married men.

Catholic leaders react to House bill to repeal, replace Obamacare

March 8, 2017

WASHINGTON – Calling health care "a vital concern for nearly every person in the country," the U.S. Catholic bishops said March 8 they will be reviewing closely a measure introduced in the House March 6 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Guatemalan bishop suggests human rights be guaranteed in new U.N. treaty

March 8, 2017

OXFORD, England – A Catholic bishop has urged governments to ensure human rights are given priority in trade and investment by big companies when a U.N. treaty is developed this fall.

March 9

Comment: Euthanasia’s slippery slope is no longer a fantasy

March 9, 2017

It was a story that slipped through public consciousness like a shadow, first ominous then quickly evaporated and forgotten.

Editorial: There’s more work to be done on Church's sex abuse policies

March 9, 2017

Pope Francis has been commended frequently as a forceful advocate for reform regarding the Church’s response to clerical sex abuse. But the resignation of a female member of the commission he established to steer those reforms has cast a shadow over his good intentions.

New national coordinator hopes to build on energy of WYD

March 9, 2017

World Youth Day is not an isolated event, said newly appointed WYD national coordinator Isabel Correa. Rather, the international event is one opportunity among many for the Church to celebrate with young people.

More than 200 Korean martyrs are up for beatification

March 9, 2017

SEOUL, South Korea – The first Bishop of Pyongyang, an American born-bishop, and numerous priests and laity are among the 213 who could be beatified and advanced on the process to sainthood under a process begun in South Korea.

South Sudan refugees look to Pope Francis for hope

March 9, 2017

Before South Sudan was a country, Luciano Moro was a refugee from South Sudan building a new life alone in Canada.