OTTAWA - The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace to prepare a first response and a plan of continuing aid for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan that has devastated parts of the Philippines Nov. 8.

Money sent directly to friends, churches or agencies in the Philippines are not eligible for Ottawa’s matching grant. To double your donation you must:

Updated 11/12/13

TORONTO - As pictures and reports of the devastation in Tacloban City, Philippines, reached the world’s newspapers and computer screens Nov. 9, Toronto Filipinos were attending the Saturday 5 p.m. Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Church.

TORONTO - Experts on homelessness are giving the federal government credit for settling on the right approach to helping some of the most vulnerable people in Canada.

When Lt. Col. Sylvain Maurais, a Catholic lay chaplain with the Canadian Armed Forces, was in the Afghanistan war zone he felt no fear because “it is what we are called to do.”

TORONTO - Loyola High School isn’t going to the Supreme Court of Canada just to get a ruling on whether the private school can teach world religions from a Catholic, Jesuit point of view. The real fight is over whether churches, charities and schools across Canada have a right to religious freedom, said Paul Donovan, the Montreal school’s principal

OTTAWA - The federal government will conduct a constitutional analysis on the Charter of Quebec Values that was introduced in the province's National Assembly Nov. 7, says Jason Kenney.

TORONTO - A documentary about the Medjugorje apparitions of the Virgin Mary has been so popular that Cineplex has suspended all future Canadian showings amid reports it is negotiating a distribution deal that may cut out a Catholic non- profit organization that has spent thousands of dollars to promote the film.

TORONTO - A letter addressed “to the sign people” is affirmation of the meaningful work by volunteers during the fall 40 Days for Life campaign.

OTTAWA - The rank-and-file of the Conservative Party has stood up for life, passing several resolutions against gendercide, euthanasia and legalized prostitution.