{mosimage}TORONTO - As a young boy in his hometown of Calabria, Italy, Giuseppe Rauti (better known as Joe) grew up seeing the Way of the Cross re-enacted in the streets during Holy Week.

His mother used to take him to daily Mass, instilling in him a love for the church and a great love of God — something unmistakably evident in the now 70-year old man who plays Jesus Christ in Toronto’s downtown Way of the Cross, which draws spectators from around the globe.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The ecumenical social justice coalition KAIROS claims the Conservative government has been less than honest with a delegation of Colombians who came to Canada to lobby against a free trade deal.

KAIROS sponsored a delegation of Colombian church and civil society leaders on a visit to Canada in February. The group received assurances Canada wouldn’t proceed with an already negotiated free trade agreement between Canada and Colombia until concerns about the South American nation’s human rights record have been investigated.

{mosimage}Canadian Nurses for Life may retire along with its national director on June 1 if no volunteers step forward to take her place.

Mary-Lynn McPherson, a retiring nurse and busy grandmother, has led the volunteer organization dedicated to fighting for nurses’ conscience rights in the workplace for about 20 years. She has set aside time in the past two decades to advocate on behalf of patients and nurses in the defence of human life from conception to natural death. This has included lobbying government, supporting membership with information and encouraging other nurses to be involved in standing up for their rights.

{mosimage}The federal government has opted for a voluntary code of conduct for Canadian mining companies abroad, with no sanctions for those that fail to comply.

The 200,000 Catholics who have sent postcards to Ottawa asking Parliament to set rules for Canadian mining companies operating in smaller and poorer nations around the world have been answered with a set of voluntary guidelines, an office that will investigate complaints only if the mining company agrees and an industry-run “centre of excellence” to encourage mining companies to be more open when it comes to the environment, labour rights and corporate governance.

For ecumenical social justice organization KAIROS , the voluntary guidelines are a step backward.

{mosimage}TORONTO - This year’s ShareLife campaign is off to a good start, with some $2 million raised by the first of three ShareLife Sunday collections in parishes throughout the archdiocese of Toronto March 28-29.

ShareLife’s overall goal this year is $14.3-million. The charitable fundraising arm of the archdiocese hopes to raise $12 million through its parish appeal and $1.625 million through the corporate campaign.

{mosimage}TORONTO — The streets of the city will be filled with Christians marking the last days of Jesus on Good Friday, April 10.

A number of re-enactments of the Stations of the Cross will take place around Toronto, including the biggest of them all which will take to the streets of Little Italy in the downtown core.

The annual Stations of the Cross originates at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Manning Avenue and makes its way around the Bathurst and College Streets area.

Also in the downtown will be the annual Good Friday Walk for Justice which starts at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity next to the Eaton Centre. The annual walk uses mime, prayer and meditation while walking several modern-day Stations of the Cross.

{mosimage}TORONTO — The Lift Jesus Higher Rally will be returning to Toronto April 18.

The rally will take over the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins is among the guests.

For information, call (416) 251-4255 or see www.lift-jesus-higher-rally.org .

{mosimage}TORONTO - After five years of helping young men discern the priesthood, Fr. Liborio Amaral, 45, rector of Serra House in Toronto, is getting ready to pass the torch.

Amaral will be taking a six-month sabbatical, starting in July, when he will rest, refocus and recharge before taking on parish ministry once again — a calling he filled at St. Elizabeth Seton in Newmarket before he was appointed to Serra House in 2004. Serra House is a place of reflection and discernment for men considering a vocation to the priesthood. 

{mosimage}TORONTO - Bringing ethics and morals back into business is what’s needed during this time of economic turmoil, say some religious experts.

“Greed came before the fall,” Fr. Bill Ryan, S.J., told a crowd of about 40 people at the  “Global Economic Meltdown: A Secular and Religious Response” conference at the University of Toronto’s Multi-faith Centre March 19. It was sponsored by the university’s Amhadiyya Muslim Students Association and drew a mix of students and business professionals.

{mosimage}TORONTO - An upcoming revision of the Catholic Health Association of Canada ’s ethics guide will likely specify that early induction of labour is morally and ethically justified in certain cases of high-risk pregnancy, said the president of the Ottawa-based organization.

James Roche told The Catholic Register that a team of ethicists has not finalized its recommendations on the precise circumstances in which early labour can be induced, but the report is expected to include provisions for early induction in some acute-care cases.