TORONTO - Close to $2 million has been donated to Salt + Light Television , Canada’s only national Catholic television network.

“To have raised $1.9 million at one event, especially in such difficult economic times, is a vivid sign of God’s providential care for Salt + Light Television,” Fr. Tom Rosica, CEO of Salt + Light, said in an e-mail to The Register.

{mosimage}TORONTO - He’s been “beat up in the media” about a $2.7-million severance payout, but former Sick Kids Foundation president and deacon-in-training Michael O’Mahoney says he’s been given a bad rap and is turning to his Catholic faith to help him get through this “complete misunderstanding.”

O’Mahoney told The Catholic Register from Portland, Ore., that he has put “a lot of faith and trust in God that even when that’s happening, it’s going to turn out OK.”

{mosimage}TORONTO - A persecuted priest in the then Soviet-occupied Lithuania, Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius says it was his daily, secret celebration of the Eucharist in his prison cell, as well as his love for God and compassion for others, that helped him survive and grow stronger in his faith.

Tamkevicius was keynote speaker at a Nov. 2 multi-faith reflection on being persecuted for your faith at the University of Toronto’s Multi-Faith Centre. He spoke of his struggles as one of the leading figures in the underground Lithuanian Catholic Church and how he was able to forgive his persecutors through prayer and God’s love.

Tamkevicius said he harbours no anger or hatred towards his tormentors, because “most guilty” was the inhumane system of Soviet communism.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Thirty years after the John Paul II Care Centre of Copernicus Lodge opened, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate influence is still strong.

Tracy Kamino, executive director of Copernicus Lodge, said ties between the lodge and the Oblate priests continues. Despite now being a non-profit organization run by a board of directors, the board is continuing the Oblates’ legacy of caring for and looking after the needs of Toronto’s Polish community, though it is also open to non-Polish residents.

{mosimage}TORONTO - He’s been called the “surviving martyr.” And next spring, 17th-century Italian Jesuit missionary Fr. Francesco Giuseppe Bressani’s sacrifices and contributions will be recognized with a statue at Martyrs’ Shrine near the territory where Bressani narrowly escaped death for his Catholic beliefs.

Fr. Daniele Bertoldi, president of the Italian Pastoral Commission of the archdiocese of Toronto, said Bressani’s importance “has not yet been acknowledged.” 

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Olympic flame is not the only torch making its way across Canada — the Torch of Life is also being welcomed in cities around the country.

The Torch of Life, which was blessed by the late Pope John Paul II, is part of SOS The America’s seventh annual campaign organized by the charity Step By Step to raise awareness about organ donation.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Amanda Inglis and Milton Silcus say they’re getting their “daily bread” and spiritual nourishment at St. Patrick’s Church’s Out of the Cold program.

“St. Patrick’s Church gives us some grounding and support,” Inglis, 40, said.

Inglis and Silcus are part of a growing trend at some Out of the Cold centres in the city. At least two Catholic-affiliated centres at St. Patrick’s Church and the First Interfaith group at St. Matthew’s United Church are reporting an increased demand for their services during the economic downturn.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Society of St. Vincent de Paul volunteer Dave McLewin starts his car on a chilly December morning and prepares for a Christmas season visit with clients.

“Business is certainly up,” he remarks during the drive to Nickeisha Hitchman’s apartment.

Recipients in St. Basil’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul outreach program are up by 70 per cent since 2006, said McLewin, 71 and in his fourth year as a volunteer.

{mosimage}TORONTO  - It’s been a Christmas tradition for the Flanagan family for the past 15 years: Selling Christmas trees for the Out of the Cold program.

Volunteer Sonny Flanagan says he and his family are raising funds for a much-needed program in the city.

TORONTO - Pope Benedict XVI appointed Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications on Jan. 5. He joins Fr. Tom Rosica of Salt+Light TV on the council.

“I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about how the church can communicate and evangelize both locally and globally,” Collins told The Catholic Register in an e-mail.