{mosimage}OTTAWA - Liberal MP John McKay is reaching out to Catholic and Christian voters on behalf of the federal party.

He hopes to “redress” the relationship with faith communities — a relationship that has been hurt by Liberal tactics that have at times demonized Christian voters as “scary” or “anti-charter.”

“I am hoping that this initiative will free up some political space for faith leaders to speak into the marketplace of ideas and not feel that they will end up battered and bruised and run out of town on a rail,” said McKay.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Two bishops from eastern Canada will lead an inquiry into allegations that funds from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace have gone to Mexican groups that have ties to abortion advocacy.

Archbishop Martin W. Currie of St. John’s, Nfld., and Bishop François Lapierre, P.M.É., of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., were to go to Mexico April 15-18 to meet with local bishops, announced the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Spring and a young man’s fancy turns exactly where you think it does, and so does a young woman’s. Anything wrong with that?

{mosimage}TORONTO - The archdiocese of Toronto is launching a new, multi-media outreach campaign for lapsed Catholics.

The public awareness campaign, launched this month, includes radio ads, a web site and an online video message from Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins.

On the web site www.wearecatholic.ca , Collins talks about the work of Catholics in the city, including teaching at 500 schools and caring for the sick.

{mosimage}TORONTO - More than 20 charities have been given a boost from the proceeds of the annual Cardinal’s Dinner.

The dinner, held last Oct. 30 and hosted by Archbishop Thomas Collins, helped raise $125,000 for 27 organizations in the archdiocese of Toronto.

The dinner was begun in 1979 by the late Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter and has been run in recent years by Carter’s successors, Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic and Collins, with proceeds going to their favourite charities. Since its inception, the dinner has raised more than $5 million for local charities.

{mosimage}VAUGHAN, Ont. - The Caritas Foundation raised $50,000 through its 15th annual Harmony Ball fundraising gala on March 28.

The funds will go to Caritas Project, a therapeutic community that has, in the past 20 years, supplied counselling, guidance and other services to individuals recovering from substance abuse and addiction.

The Harmony Ball, in conjunction with Caritas’ annual Telethon kickoff, will allow Caritas to continue providing these programs and services to its community members.

{mosimage}TORONTO - As a young boy in his hometown of Calabria, Italy, Giuseppe Rauti (better known as Joe) grew up seeing the Way of the Cross re-enacted in the streets during Holy Week.

His mother used to take him to daily Mass, instilling in him a love for the church and a great love of God — something unmistakably evident in the now 70-year old man who plays Jesus Christ in Toronto’s downtown Way of the Cross, which draws spectators from around the globe.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The ecumenical social justice coalition KAIROS claims the Conservative government has been less than honest with a delegation of Colombians who came to Canada to lobby against a free trade deal.

KAIROS sponsored a delegation of Colombian church and civil society leaders on a visit to Canada in February. The group received assurances Canada wouldn’t proceed with an already negotiated free trade agreement between Canada and Colombia until concerns about the South American nation’s human rights record have been investigated.

{mosimage}Canadian Nurses for Life may retire along with its national director on June 1 if no volunteers step forward to take her place.

Mary-Lynn McPherson, a retiring nurse and busy grandmother, has led the volunteer organization dedicated to fighting for nurses’ conscience rights in the workplace for about 20 years. She has set aside time in the past two decades to advocate on behalf of patients and nurses in the defence of human life from conception to natural death. This has included lobbying government, supporting membership with information and encouraging other nurses to be involved in standing up for their rights.

{mosimage}The federal government has opted for a voluntary code of conduct for Canadian mining companies abroad, with no sanctions for those that fail to comply.

The 200,000 Catholics who have sent postcards to Ottawa asking Parliament to set rules for Canadian mining companies operating in smaller and poorer nations around the world have been answered with a set of voluntary guidelines, an office that will investigate complaints only if the mining company agrees and an industry-run “centre of excellence” to encourage mining companies to be more open when it comes to the environment, labour rights and corporate governance.

For ecumenical social justice organization KAIROS , the voluntary guidelines are a step backward.