{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey, who was expected to appear in an Ottawa courtroom Dec. 16 on charges of possession and importation of child pornography, has had his case postponed until Jan. 13.

A lawyer for the former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., asked for the postponement for procedural reasons.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Spanish Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana as the new apostolic nuncio to Canada.

The Holy See made the announcement Dec. 10.

“Once again the Holy Father has shown his great care and love for Canada in assigning a first class nuncio to this country in the person of Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana,” said Salt + Light Television CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, who first met Canada’s new nuncio at the Secretariat of State when Rosica was preparing for World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to press the reset button and ask the Governor General to prorogue Parliament has postponed the vote on a number of pieces of legislation.

It has postponed debate on a controversial private member’s euthanasia bill, guaranteed Conservative MP Joy Smith’s anti-human trafficking Bill C-268 will not become law before the Vancouver Olympics and stalled Liberal MP John McKay’s mining accountability Bill C-300, which had reached the committee stage in the House of Commons. 

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey, who faces charges of possession and importation of child pornography, will have a judicial pre-trial Jan. 26.

This off-the-record meeting of lawyers from both sides before a judge could lead either to a resolution of the case or launch the next step in the trial process.

OTTAWA - An official from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said King’s Glory Fellowship of Calgary lost its charitable status for failing to file its annual financial report.

Its controversial lay pastor Artur Pawlowski admitted he did miss the deadline. He believes, however, King’s Glory Fellowship’s charitable status has not been restored because of his vocal defence of Christian teaching.

(See Calgary bishop comes to defence of lay pastor )

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Concerned by reports that the Vancouver Winter Olympics could provide an ideal climate for human trafficking, Canada’s Catholic bishops have issued a pastoral letter denouncing a dehumanizing crime that, says the United Nations, affects 2.5 million people worldwide.

The Jan. 26 letter, signed by members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, said major sporting events often see “systems put in place to satisfy the demand for paid sex” and “this is likely to be the case during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.”

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey's next court date on charges of possession and importation of child pornography has been set for April 9.

The former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., did not appear in court Feb. 3 when one of his lawyers arranged for the new court date. He is unlikely to appear in court on April 9 either, according to his lawyer Michael Edelson.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Revenue Canada is “way out of line” and could be setting a worrisome precedent by revoking the charitable status of a church run by an activist lay pastor, said Calgary Bishop Fred Henry.

The Glory Christian Fellowship ran afoul of Revenue Canada due to the activities of its lay pastor, Artur Pawlowski. In December, the church received a letter from Dian Prodenov of Revenue Canada informing the fellowship its charitable status was revoked because “members of the Board of Directors espouse strong negative views about sensitive and controversial issues, which may also be viewed as political, such as abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.”

The arrest last fall of Bishop Raymond Lahey has refocused attention on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The Catholic Register examines the issue in this special report.

OTTAWA (CCN) — Investigative journalist Michael Harris has seen a “tremendous policy change” in the Catholic Church since he broke the story of sexual and physical abuse at the Mount Cashel orphanage in the late 1980s.
 
“There has been a true response to the real problem instead of musical parishes, private deals and checkbook dispensations,” said the author of Unholy Orders: Tragedy at Mount Cashel. “I have a good feeling that the next generation of Catholic priests will not be in this position.”

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Campaign Life Coalition is hoping this year’s National March for Life will draw 20,000 people to Parliament Hill on May 13 with help from Ottawa area Catholic schools.

Last year’s march drew more than 12,000 people, the largest crowd in the event’s 12 years. About half of the marchers were young people. But many of these were bused in from other cities around Ontario.