TORONTO - Ninety-one per cent of Ontarians are unaware publicly subsidized abortions in the province cost taxpayers at least $30 million a year, according to an Abacus Data poll published Oct. 10.

Commissioned by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSiteNews.com and The Interim, the poll Public Funding of Abortion in Ontario also found that 40 per cent of respondents believe abortion should be available but only publicly funded in medical emergencies and 11 per cent feel abortion should be available but not paid for by the province in any situation.

Supreme Court hears religious freedom arguments against hate speech codes in Whatcott case

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OTTAWA - Hate-speech language in human rights codes is “impossibly vague” and has a chilling affect on robust debate, lawyer Iain Benson argued before the Supreme Court of Canada.

“The place for hate speech is in the Criminal Code,” said Benson.

He was arguing Oct. 12 on behalf of William Whatcott in a religious-freedom case that is challenging the constitutional validity of clauses in provincial and federal human rights acts that prohibit expression “likely” to harm groups by exposing them to hatred, contempt or discrimination.

Bishops to tackle budget, abuse crisis closure

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OTTAWA - When Canada’s Catholic bishops meet for their annual plenary Oct. 17-21, they will face ongoing budgetary concerns and decisions on how to bring closure to the more than two-decades-old clerical sexual abuse crisis.

The bishops will also reflect on freedom and conscience formation, another area where Catholic institutions, especially schools and health care facilities, are experiencing pressure from provincial governments. They will also consider controversial immigration issues as well as ecumenism and interfaith relations.

Planned Parenthood grant under attack

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OTTAWA - The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) and the Catholic Civil Rights League have blasted International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda’s $6 million grant to the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

In an Oct. 4 letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, COLF board chairman Bishop Gerald Wiesner expressed “dismay” that “the world’s largest abortion provider and promoter” would receive the Canadian International Development Agency grant over the next three years.

Planned Parenthood “works aggressively to dismantle abortion laws in countries where abortion is prohibited and to have abortion recognized as a universal human ‘right,’ ” Wiesner wrote.

Salt+Light set to broadcast plenary

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OTTAWA - The Canadian bishops are teaming with Salt+Light Television to give Catholics a glimpse of the inner workings of the bishops’ conference.

When the Catholic bishops from across Canada gather for the annual plenary Oct. 17-22 in Cornwall, Ont., for the first time Salt+Light will provide a live window on some of the proceedings. Salt+Light, a Canadian digital Catholic network, will collaborate with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to offer streaming-video online via the revamped bishops’ web site and Salt+Light’s web site and network.

Incredible year for CCCB - New missal, canonization among highlights

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OTTAWA - The publication of a new English translation of the Roman Missal, a month ahead of schedule, caps a year of much being accomplished by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) secretariat.

“It has been an incredible year,” said CCCB General Secretary Msgr. Pat Powers as almost 90 bishops prepare to meet in Cornwall, Ont., Oct. 17-21 for their annual plenary meeting.

The first copies of the missal were slated to arrive Oct. 15, well ahead of the scheduled Nov. 10 shipping date. This huge publication task also involved CCCB staff in catechesis about the new translation in workshops around the country and online, as well as the publication of new musical settings.

Deacon Harris lived a life of service

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ORILLIA, ONT. - It may have taken Deacon Bernie Harris 73 years to become a deacon, but his life of service had started long before that day he was ordained in 2003.

Deacon Harris had long been active in pastoral outreach before his ordination, as a hospital chaplain, a eucharistic minister, a prison visitor and a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society among others.

Deacon Harris passed away Sept. 29. He was in his 82nd year.

Christian unity week enlists technology and social media to get the word out

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It’s a new day for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The 104-year-old call to Christians to atone for their deliberate and structural estrangement from one another is employing Facebook, Twitter and the very latest publishing technology to get the word out.

Promoting the Week of Prayer via social media was basically a no-brainer as far as the Canadian Council of Churches is concerned, said CCC secretary general Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton.

“It was just obvious, given that we are continually thinking through communications issues and paying attention to what’s going on,” said Hamilton.

Bishops intervene in case of Iranian pastor who faces death sentence in Iran

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OTTAWA - Canada’s Catholic bishops have intervened in the case of an Iranian pastor who faces a possible death sentence for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani converted to Christianity from Islam. A year ago, he was sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. He has been given five chances to recant his Christian faith, but has refused. The Iranian Supreme Court has turned his case over to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an Oct. 6 letter to the Iranian Embassy’s Chargé d’affaires Sheikh-Hassani, Kingston Archbishop Brendan O’Brien raised the “urgent case” of the pastor, whose “life remains in danger” even though at the time his death sentence seemed to have been commuted though he was still being detained and “under pressure to recant his conversion.”

But Nadarkhani now faces additional charges of “rape, extortion and security-related charges," according to a report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission.

Writing as the chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, O’Brien reminded Sheikh-Hassani that Iran voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.”

The letter requested the Iranian government “respect its international commitment to human rights, and that Pastor Nadarkhani, and all other persons in your country who are in similar situations, be treated in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

A copy of the open letter was sent to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who issued a statement Sept. 28 expressing concern over Nadarkhani’s plight.

“Canada deeply deplores reports that an Iranian Christian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, could be imminently executed for refusing an order by Iran's courts to recant his faith,” Baird said, calling upon Iran “uphold its obligations under international human rights law.”

“Iran consistently violates the human rights of minorities, including Christians and Bahá’i,” Baird said. “Our government is committed to establishing an Office of Religious Freedom to promote and protect these rights around the world, ensuring that this type of persecution does not go unchecked.”

Voice of the Martyrs has also raised the pastor’s plight in its regular bulletins on the plight of persecuted Christians.

Faith communities continue drive to stop oil pipeline project

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Witnesses lined up early this morning at the State Deptartment to offer their views on a $7 billion pipeline project designed to carry up to 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

On one side were representatives of the energy industry who say the project would produce thousands of construction jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East oil. The other included religious and environmental groups concerned that extracting oil in Canada’s northern boreal forest will accelerate climate change and harm the livelihood of First Nations people.

The project has raised sensitivities in both the U.S. and Canada as debates have revolved around the benefits of economic development and  jobs in a deep recession and the long-term impact on climate change.

Companions of the Cross founder Fr. Bedard dies after long illness

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OTTAWA - Fr. Robert Bedard, founder of the Companions of the Cross, a society of apostolic life in the Catholic Church, died on Oct. 6. He was 82.

Fr. Bedard was born and raised in Ottawa and ordained a priest at Blessed Sacrament Church in Ottawa on June 6, 1955. For many years, he was a teacher at St. Pius X High School in Ottawa.