OTTAWA - When Fr. Bryan Bayda got the phone call from the apostolic nuncio (papal ambassador to Canada) telling him that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him bishop of the Saskatoon Ukrainian Catholic eparchy, he experienced shock and disbelief.

{mosimage}TORONTO - After 35 years the men ordained to the permanent diaconate for the archdiocese of Toronto are still discovering new ways to be deacons — new ways to serve God and the church.

Deacon Rob Kinghorn does it by walking some of the most dangerous streets in Toronto on Thursday nights between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. and praying with the people he meets – transvestite prostitutes, crack dealers, the lost and the lonely.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Catholic Church formed a part of his life for about 30 years, but despite loving his community and parish priest, Elmont Cumberbatch, 68, said it wasn’t until this past Easter that he really felt at home.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered an evangelical Christian charity to rescind its morality code and require employees to undergo anti-discrimination training.

{mosimage}An extra $45 million for the World Food Program plus $5 million more for the ecumenical Canada Foodgrains Bank in Winnipeg will help avert a disaster in much of the world where rising food prices are pushing the 850 million people who live on a dollar a day towards starvation.

"It is a step in the right direction," said Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace director of international programs Gilio Brunelli.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Caritas, an agency dedicated to the healing and recovery of patients with drug and alcohol addiction, had a significant increase in donors for its annual telethon April 27.

{mosimage}TORONTO — If there’s more to do, then Susan Tomenson is one woman who can be counted on. On April 16 the Jesuits honoured the Catholic activist for her willingness to do much more than the minimum.

{mosimage}TORONTO - When he first started working as an Oblate missionary priest in the diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, retiring Bishop Denis Croteau went head-to-head with the elements.

{mosimage}TORONTO - One hundred years ago, Catholic missionaries in Canada travelled by horse and buggy and dog team, from east to west and up through the territories to the Arctic. Although their methods of travel have changed, their work continues in all directions, funded by Catholic Missions In Canada.

TORONTO - Archbishop Thomas Collins has made several new appointments in Toronto’s curial offices.

“Be assured of our ongoing commitment to be faithful and responsible stewards of all that has been entrusted to us by the people of the archdiocese,” Collins said in a letter to clergy, parish and diocesan staff.