MONTREAL - Can prayer assure your favourite NHL team a chance for a run at the Stanley Cup? An ad that is all tongue-in-cheek, taken out by the archdiocese of Montreal, is inviting hockey fans to give it a try.

In a city where the secular passion for hockey has been compared to a religion, the archdiocese has decided to ride the wave and sneak in a Gospel call to turn to God.

OTTAWA - When the Companions of the Cross met for its General Assembly Jan. 30-Feb. 3 in Cornwall, Ont., the priests had their first chance to reflect on the impact of last year’s death of founder Fr. Bob Bedard.

“The passing of a founder, of a spiritual father in Christ, is a watershed for any community in the history of the Church,” said moderator Fr. Scott McCaig, who was re-elected Feb. 3 for a second six-year term as the order’s leader.

There was nothing wrong with the sale and closure of two North Bay, Ont., churches in the judgment of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy.

Former parishioners of St. Rita’s and Corpus Christi in North Bay had appealed to the Vatican to keep their churches open for some kind of religious purpose. While they acknowledged their bishop’s right to suppress the parishes, they disputed whether he was within his rights to sell the buildings and — in the language of canon law — reduce them to profane use.

Kingston Archbishop Brendan O’Brien, centre, and Peterborough Bishop Nicola DeAngelis, right, surprise Prof. Thomas T.H. Symons with a knighthood from Pope Benedict XVI.

Symons was made a Knight of St. Sylvester at the Feb. 3 inaugural convocation ceremony for Sacred Heart College in Peterborough. Symons helped found Sacred Heart, the new Catholic college affiliated with Peterborough’s Trent University. He was also a founder of Trent back in 1964 and chairs the board of trustees for Sacred Heart College.

OTTAWA - Archbishop Richard Smith is inviting Catholics to open their hearts to those in need by contributing generously to this year’s Share Lent campaign.

The annual fundraising campaign kicks off Feb. 22 and runs through April 7. It is the major fundraiser for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, the Canadian bishops’ development agency, accounting for about 30 per cent of its annual budget.

Next to printing a high-quality newspaper each week, there is nothing more important than getting The Catholic Register into the hands of our readers in a timely, cost-effective manner.

For many years, that has meant using Canada Post as our primary delivery method. But over the next few weeks The Register will cease using the mailman to deliver the paper to the vast majority of our readers.

OTTAWA - A Conservative backbencher is using a private member’s motion that could re-ignite the abortion debate in Parliament.

MP Stephen Woodworth, who represents the Ontario Kitchener Centre riding, tabled a motion Feb. 6 that Parliament appoint a special committee of 12 members to review the section of the Criminal Code that states a child becomes a human being “only at the moment of complete birth.”

Though Woodworth told journalists he was not addressing abortion in his motion, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson issued a terse statement, saying “The Prime Minister has been very clear, our government will not reopen this debate.”

TORONTO - At their peak in the 1960s, the Sisters of Service had 125 members. But with their numbers down to 20, the congregation decided it was time to plan for their future. For help, they turned to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto.

On Jan. 25, the Sisters of Service and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto signed a sponsorship agreement wherein the Sisters of St. Joseph will now be responsible for the management and governance of the congregation of the Sisters of Service as long as a Sister of Service lives.

After years without a permanent location, the diocese of Hamilton Catholic Youth Organization’s Camp Marydale will once again have a home this summer.

A barrier-free park that’s been in the works since 2003, Marydale Park in Mount Hope, Ont., will serve the campers in the summer and be open and accessible year-round.

“When we decided to build it, we decided we weren’t going to just build a park,” said day camp director Karen Hartnett. “We were going to make sure it was accessible to everyone. In 1972, we were one of the first camps in Ontario to fully integrate children with special needs into our programs… so we decided, let’s break down another barrier.”

EDMONTON - Carrying placards against abortion, about 20 people marched in front of Edmonton’s Law Courts Building Jan. 27 to mark the 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that threw out Canada’s abortion law.

“Twenty-four years ago, every (abortion) restriction in Canada was struck down by the Supreme Court,” lamented Edmonton Prolife spokesperson Karen Richert. “Abortion in Canada is wide open and is also paid for with your tax dollars.”