NEWS

VATICAN CITY - Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala has resigned after disclosing to superiors that he is the father of two children.

The Vatican announced the bishop's resignation Jan. 4 in a one-line statement that cited church law on resignation for illness or other serious reasons.

LAGOS, Nigeria - A group of Nigerian bishops accused the government of selfishness, collusion and fraud and said removal of a fuel subsidy showed "insensitive timing."

"Must the poor suffer to make the rich smile? It may not be fair to blame the ... government alone for all the woes of Nigeria, but this government must take full responsibility for the insensitive timing and execution of this policy on fuel subsidy," said the statement, signed by Archbishop Felix Alaba Job of Ibadan, president of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria.

OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey, 71, received a 15-month jail sentence Jan. 4 for importing child pornography but was released after the judge gave him a two-for-one credit for the eight months he had already spent in prison. The judge also imposed a period of 24 months' probation with strict conditions.

After sentencing, a spectator began shouting obscenities at Lahey through the glass of the prisoner's box and called him a demon. Police rushed into the courtroom, but did not charge the man who said he was a victim of sexual abuse at the St. Joseph Training School for Boys in Alfred, Ont.

OTTAWA - After a solidarity mission to Haiti Dec. 15-21, Archbishop Richard Smith came away with a deep appreciation of the work Canadian Catholics are funding to help the poor through a range of Caritas partners.

“What I saw there was the Gospel in action, lives being changed,” said the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) president.

Smith also came away struck with the need for a long-term commitment to help renew the country devastated by a catastrophic earthquake two years ago.

Bishop Noël Simard will return to his native Quebec to lead the Valleyfield diocese.

On Dec. 29, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the former professor of bioethics and moral theology to the Valleyfield diocese where he will be installed in mid-February.

ABUJA, NIGERIA - Christmas was a day of joy but also a day of tears and sorrow for Nigerian Christians. As the world celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace, the Nigerian Church was struck by senseless violence that wiped away entire families and slaughtered scores of worshippers at three churches: St. Theresa’s parish in the town of Madalla, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos, and the church in Gadaka.  

I could have been among the victims but for divine providence. Until last April, when I was appointed as an assistant chaplain at the University of Abuja, I did weekend pastoral ministry at St. Theresa’s parish. But for that appointment I would have been in St. Theresa’s on Christmas day.

CALGARY - An Anglo-Catholic Church in Calgary was the first in Canada to be designated a Roman Catholic Anglican-use congregation.

A special, unprecedented service was held Dec. 18 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Calgary to welcome St. John the Evangelist parish. It will soon be received into the Roman Catholic Church.

OTTAWA - Former Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey was sentenced to 15 months in prison Jan. 4, but will be released today as he has received a two-for-one credit for time served.

The Crown had sought an 18- to 22-month sentence.

Lahey has already served eight months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography for the purposes of importation to Canada in May. He was imprisoned after pleading guilty on his own request.

TORONTO - Three days after Christmas, the altar and pulpit of St. Michael's Cathedral were still adorned with wreaths and festive decorations. Parishioners and visitors filled the pews for a Wednesday evening Mass, only two blocks from the mid-Boxing Week rush at the Toronto Eaton Centre and other downtown retailers.

But the congregation wasn't gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus — the people were there to pray for those yet to be born.

MANILA, Philippines - Catholic agencies and officials in the Philippines are working to provide housing for victims of recent flooding that left more than 1,200 people dead and hundreds of thousands more displaced.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said it would seek funding for the construction of 1,000 houses and 400 permanent homes in Cagayan de Oro, another 400 transitional homes in Iligan, and 200 other temporary shelters in Dumaguete.