{mosimage}OTTAWA - Healing and reconciliation formed the agenda for a meeting of Catholic bishops with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine in Quebec City July 16.

“I recognize that thousands of Catholic men and women religious worked during the Indian residential schools era in what they sincerely believed to be in the best interest of Indian residential school students,” Fontaine said, according to an AFN news release. “However, it is important for these religious entities to both openly acknowledge their role in Indian residential schools and to hear directly from First Nations regarding their experiences.”

{mosimage}TORONTO - Shareholders trying to nudge corporate boardrooms in a more ethical direction had one of their most successful springs ever.

Spring is when most companies hold annual general meetings, reporting their accomplishments and future plans directly to shareholders, electing new boards of directors and voting on shareholder proposals. This year the Vancouver-based Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE) tracked 171 shareholder proposals.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has released a 22-page booklet blaming the roots of the current worldwide food crisis on the rise of for-profit agribusiness.

Entitled Food System in Crisis: Hunger and the Pursuit of Profit, the booklet calls for a return of decision-making power to the people who grow and consume food, promoting “food sovereignty.”

{mosimage}OTTAWA (CCN)—Members of the lay apostolate Madonna House returned the Order of Canada award their foundress received in 1976 to protest the appointment of abortionist Henry Morgentaler.

“The awarding of the Order of Canada to Dr. Morgentaler compels us to protest in the most forceful, peaceful way available to us,” said Mark Schlingerman in a prepared statement to media gathered at Princess Gate, the main entrance to the Governor General’s residence July 8. “Not only do we find his medical practice at the dark side of the medical profession but his inclusion in the awards diminishes them.”

{mosimage}TORONTO - “God don’t make no junk.” You will find these words printed on a wall of pro-life posters in the second-floor office of Birthright co-president Mary Berney.

Birthright, the world’s first international crisis pregnancy service, is one of several organizations which provide alternatives to abortion. Some pro-life advocates say not enough is being publicized about these options for women.

{mosimage}TORONTO - A firestorm of protest continues to sweep across Canada in the wake of a July 1 announcement that abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler would receive the Order of Canada.

Catholic bishops from coast to coast joined numerous pro-life groups in condemning the decision by Governor General  Michaëlle Jean to give the country’s highest honour to the man whose name is most widely associated with the fact that Canada, almost alone among civilized nations, has no legal restrictions on abortion.

{mosimage}TORONTO - As happened so often in his lifetime, St. Paul was under arrest when he wanted to be on another missionary journey — this time to Toronto.

TORONTO  - She’s been to a thousand birth days as a former midwife in Nigeria.

Now living in Canada, Stella George’s friends and family have planned multiple parties to celebrate a milestone birthday of her own: George turned 100 earlier this month.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Saint Paul University is ending its 73-year history with Novalis by selling Canada's largest Catholic book publisher to a company connected with multinational corporation Bayard Presse.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed an anti-homosexual hate speech complaint against Catholic Insight magazine.

“We are of course very cautious,” said Catholic Insight editor Fr. Alphonse de Valk, CSB, whose small-circulation magazine already faces more than $20,000 in legal bills. “A judicial review is still possible. We’re not out of the woods yet.