News/Canada

MONTREAL - Notre Dame Sister Gilberte Bussiere, 76, was kidnapped in the middle of the night in April 2014, in Tchere, a small hamlet in northern Cameroon.

OTTAWA - A decision on the future of the Alexandria-Cornwall diocese and whether it will remain a separate entity or become part of the Ottawa archdiocese is expected to be resolved by June or July 2017, says Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast.

York Region sent volunteers to canvass the streets and shelters to tally the homeless population as part of a federally funded initiative aimed at tackling homelessness nationwide.

For gymnasts it might be a twisting tumble, for astrologers a star, for politicians a sandwich. But for Jesuit ecologist Fr. John McCarthy that ultimate accolade — confirmation of a lifetime of scientific research — is to have a lichen named after him.

OTTAWA - Physician-assisted death legislation could include competent children under the age of 18, a legal expert told a Parliamentary committee Jan. 26.

TORONTO - Sometimes, it takes an outsider to speak the truth about our faith.

OTTAWA - Andrew Bennett remains uncertain whether his three-year term as Canada’s Religious Freedom Ambassador will be renewed, but says he will continue to fight for religious freedom even if his position is eliminated.

TORONTO - Opting out of the stations you never watch or buying just the channels you do watch on cable isn’t the biggest worry Canada’s Catholic broadcasters face. The advent of the “skinny basic” cable packages — which cable companies must offer starting in March — and pick-n-pay menus that allow viewers to purchase only the stations they want by the end of 2016, are only a small part of bigger changes in how people watch television, broadcasters told The Catholic Register.

OTTAWA - Church-based charities, including the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, are applauding the end of Canada Revenue Agency’s political audit program.

OTTAWA - Legislation that tries to restrict assisted suicide and euthanasia to the terminally ill would likely fail a court challenge, a prominent constitutional lawyer told a Parliamentary committee.