TORONTO - Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins is leading a battle to prevent abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler from receiving an Order of Canada.

In a July 1 statement, the archbishop called on all Catholics in Toronto — and “all people of good will” — to write to the Governor General, to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and to members of Parliament to ask that the decision be revoked.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Toronto’s Catholics have helped send more than $1 million to aid victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and earthquakes in China’s Sichuan province.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - The Pope may wish to see all parishes have a Tridentine Latin Mass among their weekend liturgies, but at the moment Cardinal Marc Ouellet is happy with one in the archdiocese of Quebec.

“I think the intention of the Holy Father is to allow the practice of the extraordinary rite where there is a need and a request,” the cardinal said at a June 18 press conference at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress here.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is getting advice from Catholics.

In advance of the July 7-9 G8 meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, Harper has received letters from the bishops of the G8 nations and from the Congregation of Notre Dame sisters.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - It seemed fitting that the week-long International Eucharistic Congress ended on a battle field. Some 55,000 people celebrated “God's gift for the life of the world” in a Mass where, almost 250 years ago, British and French soldiers shot each other down.

Instead of a memorial to death, the high plateau known as the Plains of Abraham became a celebration of eternal life.

Not that we're still playing a numbers game, but hey, let's have a little fun. The other day we reported on the numbers of clerics of various hues. Today let's talk about civic pride.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet chafes under the criticism that his pride and joy — the International Eucharistic Congress — is little more than a week-long piety-fest. So he's been chafing a bit more than usual this week as secular media here in Quebec have focused as much on such criticism as it has on actually covering the event.

Not that a Eucharistic Congress is a numbers game, but it has been readily apparent with anyone with eyes around here that the priesthood and hierarchy are very well represented indeed.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - As many as 25,000 Catholics from around the world poured through the narrow streets of Quebec City June 19, accompanying the Blessed Sacrament in an outpouring of religious fervour absent from this city for at least half a century.

It should not be suprising that here in Quebec City, the cradle of Christendom in North America, that the liturgies have been surpassingly beautiful. There is a veritable cornucopia of worship services to attend, from the large daily Masses in the Pepsi Colliseum at the Expo City to the Adoration chapels, to the many Vespers and prayer services that happen daily at many of Quebec's historic churches.