{mosimage}TORONTO - Valentine’s Day meets with spirituality through a special dinner some parishes have adopted to help couples strengthen their relationship and rekindle romances.

Table for Two surfaced for the first time at St. Patrick’s parish in Toronto this year, hosted by the Redemptorists. It is modelled on a similar event at a Redemptorist parish in Winnipeg.

Vancouver church is ready for the world

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{mosimage}As February dawned the Games were already on for British Columbia Catholics getting ready to welcome Olympic athletes, media and fans for the XXI Winter Games.

“I was in the athletes’ village this morning, just making sure everything is set up for Mass tomorrow morning,” Msgr. Jerry Desmond told The Catholic Register  just days before the opening ceremonies.

40 Days for Life launches Ash Wednesday in six Canadian cities

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{mosimage}TORONTO - This year’s 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer, fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil kicks off on Feb. 17, Ash Wednesday, in 162 cities across Canada, the United States, Australia and Northern Ireland.

Toronto will be one of six participating Canadian cities for the pro-life campaign, running to March 28. Participants will gather at the intersection of Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West near the Women’s Care Clinic to pray for an end to abortion, said Nicole Campbell, national director for 40 Days for Life. Other vigils will take place in Montreal, Guelph, Ont., Edmonton, Red Deer, Alta., and Kelowna, B.C.

Interfaith group takes on Scarborough homelessness

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{mosimage}TORONTO - A new Scarborough interfaith group says it plans to buy a home to help homeless people off the local streets.

This was just one of several ideas as the Scarborough Interfaith Affordable Housing Association tries to find solutions to homelessness. The group held a Jan. 23 affordable housing forum called “In From the Cold” attended by about 50 faith leaders, community activists and concerned citizens at Knox United Church.

Archbishop Collins blasts Ignatieff's pro-abortion stance

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It is astonishing and sad that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is advocating that Canada fund overseas abortions, charged Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins.

Collins released a statement on Feb. 4 in response to Ignatieff's public calls for the government to include contraception and abortion funding as basic components of a new foreign aid strategy to improve maternal and childhood health.

Charitable status lost when church didn’t file report

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OTTAWA - An official from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said King’s Glory Fellowship of Calgary lost its charitable status for failing to file its annual financial report.

Its controversial lay pastor Artur Pawlowski admitted he did miss the deadline. He believes, however, King’s Glory Fellowship’s charitable status has not been restored because of his vocal defence of Christian teaching.

(See Calgary bishop comes to defence of lay pastor )

Toronto Catholics raise $1.1 million for Haiti relief

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Catholics in the archdiocese of Toronto have responded overwhelmingly to the destructive January quake in Haiti, raising more than $1.1 million in just three weeks.

As of Feb. 2, the tally included donations made by schools, parishes and personal donations to ShareLife, the fundraising arm of the archdiocese.

Olympics must not provide human trafficking opportunities, bishops say

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{mosimage}OTTAWA - Concerned by reports that the Vancouver Winter Olympics could provide an ideal climate for human trafficking, Canada’s Catholic bishops have issued a pastoral letter denouncing a dehumanizing crime that, says the United Nations, affects 2.5 million people worldwide.

The Jan. 26 letter, signed by members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, said major sporting events often see “systems put in place to satisfy the demand for paid sex” and “this is likely to be the case during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.”

Bishop Lahey's next court date set for April 9

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{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey's next court date on charges of possession and importation of child pornography has been set for April 9.

The former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., did not appear in court Feb. 3 when one of his lawyers arranged for the new court date. He is unlikely to appear in court on April 9 either, according to his lawyer Michael Edelson.

Toronto Christians called to solidarity with Haiti

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{mosimage}TORONTO- Less than a month after a devastating earthquake flattened the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Christian leaders in Toronto rallied the faithful to continue praying and supporting those touched by the disaster.

In light of the powerful Jan. 12 earthquake, and the many violent aftershocks the country has suffered, Archbishop Thomas Collins called on Christians attending an ecumenical prayer service for the people of Haiti Feb. 1 to respond in solidarity.

St. Francis de Sales parish turns 150

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{mosimage}AJAX, Ont. - It was a day of song and multicultural dance, along with prayers for earthquake-ravaged Haiti, as parishioners celebrated the 150th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales Church.

Long-time parishioner Rita Jatoe says the parish community is a “very loving, caring family.” Wearing a traditional West African dress, Jatoe read a prayer petition in her African dialect and cut the celebratory cake after the noon-time Mass on Jan. 24, the Feast of St. Francis de Sales.