Money for sexual abuse victims in the diocese of Antigonish is being spread thinner than expected as the number of people seeking compensation has grown to about 140.

At the same time, the diocese of Antigonish has had to borrow $2 million in bridge financing to make its second payment on a $15 million class-action settlement reached in 2009.

The unexpected number of claimants, plus a number of victims who have opted out of the settlement to pursue individual lawsuits, could have triggered a collapse of the 2009 settlement. Victims had the option of withdrawing from the class action if it exceeded more than 70 claims. The diocese had the option to withdraw if anyone “opted out,” said John McKiggan, the lawyer for class action plaintiffs.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Bishop Colin Campbell, bishop emeritus of the diocese of Antigonish, died Jan. 17 after a lengthy illness. Bishop Campbell had been living in a Halifax nursing home for the last number of years after retiring in October 2002 for health reasons.

“As you are probably aware Bishop Campbell had been experiencing serious health concerns over the past few years; however, his health was in serious decline over the past few months, “ Fr. Paul Abbass, diocesan spokesman and vicar general, said in a statement on the diocese’s web site.

TORONTO - Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird met with a group of religious leaders in Toronto Jan. 18 to continue discussions on the soon-to-launch Office of Religious Freedom.

“The only thing the minister said is that this office is for religious minorities abroad — not at home — and it has a budget of $5 million,” said Imam Abdul Hai Patel, who was in attendance at the consultation.

But there was not a clear answer as to how this is going to be enforced, he said.

TORONTO - For 400 years Loretto Sisters have been working to raise the dignity of women. It started with girls’ schools in 17th-century England, but now the Sisters want to take on criminals who sell girls into sexual slavery.

“We have to read the signs of the times, so we have to say ‘What would (Loretto founder Mary Ward) think was needed now if she were here today?’ ” said Sr. Maria Lanthier, co-ordinator of a March 24 conference on human trafficking. “This is one of the biggest issues that keeps women down — trafficking. It’s the second biggest criminal industry in the world.”

TORONTO - The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes faced the harshest command its faith can impose at the recent Sunday morning Masses. The Catholics of this diverse, downtown parish obeyed the biblical injunction to celebrate — all the while knowing that their leader, friend and pastor had died.

Jesuit Father Bill Addley died at St. Michael's Hospital just before 2 a.m. Jan. 21, surrounded by friends. The pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes for almost 13 years, a former provincial superior of the Jesuits in English Canada and one of the first Canadian Church leaders to face the sexual abuse scandal head-on, Fr. Addley died of complications from colon cancer  within two weeks of being diagnosed.

He went through an operation to resection his colon Jan. 13 and for a time seemed likely to recover. But the cancer had spread and he couldn't regain his energy.

OTTAWA - An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal warning of a distortion of the male/female balance due to sex-selection abortion in some ethnic communities shows the need to reopen the abortion debate in Canada, say pro-life groups.

In the editorial, Journal interim editor-in-chief Dr. Rajendra Kale urged the sex of a fetus be kept from pregnant women until 30 weeks gestation, when it is unlikely an abortion will be performed except for exceptional medical reasons.

“Female feticide happens in India and China by the millions, but it also happens in North America in numbers large enough to distort the male-to-female ratio in some ethnic groups,” said Kale.

TORONTO - The ecumenical movement knows precisely what it wants and has wanted since the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in 1908 — full, visible unity of the body of Christ.

At this year's Toronto Week of Prayer ecumenical service, Rev. Ammonius Guirguis of St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church told about 700 in St. Michael's Cathedral exactly what they would have to do to get the unity they want. They would have to change.

"There will be a change, but it has to be preceded by changes in our behaviour," Guirguis declared.

OTTAWA - Winnipeg Archbishop James Weisgerber believes that “rebalancing the relationship” between First Nations peoples and the government may be the most important issue in Canada today.

To that end, he hopes the Jan. 24 summit in Ottawa between First Nations leaders and the federal government will finally address what he calls the “tremendous inequalities and great suffering” of Canada’s aboriginal peoples.

“The federal government has a lead role,” Weisgerber said. “We arrived (and) we made treaties that are supposed to be the basis on which we share coming together.”

Sarah Burke is dead. Others live because of her.

The 29-year-old freestyle skiing pioneer's organs and tissue were donated for transplants. As operating rooms in Park City Utah worked on salvaging the Canadian ski hero's organs, the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, Trillium Gift of Life Network and St. Michael's College chaplaincy department gathered Catholics on the University of Toronto campus to discuss ways of persuading more Catholics to donate their organs and tissue.

"The stories really are what motivates people," said CCBI executive director Moira McQueen as she opened up the Jan. 19 forum.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has launched a new webpage that traces the relationship of the Catholic Church in Canada and its First Nations’ peoples.

The site sketches the history of relations with indigenous peoples, many of whom became part of the Church and “gave much to it.” It cites Joseph Chiwatenhwa, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and “Grand Chief Henri Membertou, who became the first aboriginal leader to be baptized by the French, as a sign of alliance and good faith in 1610.”