News/Canada

Catholic school teachers, trustees and the government in Ontario reached a tentative contract agreement before the start of school. Ann Hawkins, president of Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), said this agreement will protect the quality of education in schools.

OECTA reaches tentative deal with province, avoiding conflict to begin school year

By

TORONTO - Catholic school teachers, trustees and the provincial government have come to a tentative contract agreement just days before the start of the new school year.

Catholic Women’s League members passed motions calling on the government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to delay the implementation of physician-assisted suicide and to reinstate the mandatory long-form census at their annual convention Aug. 17-19, 2015.

CWL calls for notwithstanding clause

By

The Catholic Women’s League of Canada has called on the federal government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to block implementation of physician-assisted suicide.

Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop of Toronto, celebrated a special liturgy Aug. 15 commemorating the 400th anniversary of the first Catholic Mass in Ontario near present-day Lafontaine. The open-air event attracted hundreds of residents from across Ontario to southern Georgian Bay.

Cardinal Collins marks 400 years since first Mass in Ontario

By

LAFONTAINE, Ont. - Four centuries ago, the first Mass west of Quebec was celebrated in the Huron-Wendat village of Carhagouha. On Aug. 15, Toronto's Cardinal Thomas Collins returned to that spot to mark the 400th anniversary of the event.

The 114-year-old St. Malachy’s Church in Kinkora, P.E.I., needs repairs that it can’t afford, but an anonymous donor is chipping in to help preserve the parish.

Anonymous donor to the rescue of P.E.I. parish

By

A recently launched capital campaign at St. Malachy’s Church on Prince Edward Island is getting a helping hand from outside the parish community.

Some of the designers of the Gift Box for Toronto’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games inside the box outside of St. James Cathedral in downtown Toronto.

Pan Am trafficking project a resounding success

By

TORONTO - Organizers of the Gift Box campaign set up during the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto to raise awareness of human trafficking have exceeded their expectations, volunteers say.

Members of the Islamic State destroy ancient artifacts in Iraq.

Harper promises funds in support of religious freedom

By

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged continued support for religious freedom, promising $9 million to help persecuted religious minorities.

Iraqis forced to flee from advancing Islamic State militants wait in line for humanitarian aid at a camp for displaced people in Zakho, Iraq. One year after the Islamic State launched its initial onslaught, refugees remain in poverty and chaos.

Iraq’s Christians still in dire need of help

By

OTTAWA - One year after the Islamic State’s invasion of Iraq forced more than 120,000 Iraqi Christians to flee ancient homelands with little except their clothes, most continue to live in poverty and chaos.

Franciscan Father Dmitri Sala speaks at the Fire and Fusion Conference in Ottawa Aug. 6.

If God’s house is divided, it’s headed for ruin

By

OTTAWA - To win the world for Jesus Christ, Christians must overcome divisions among themselves, Franciscan Father Dmitri Sala told the Fire and Fusion Conference here Aug. 6.

Br. Jaazeal Jakosalem works in youth ministry in Cebu City and Negros Island in the Philippines, educating Filipino youth about Church teaching on the environment. Youth in Jakosalem’s program paint murals to spread the word about climate change and environmental degradation.

Protecting the environment goes beyond climate change

By

Whether motivated by Canadian garbage, Canadian mines or devastating typhoons linked to global warming, Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical has emboldened the fight in the Philippines for environmental justice, said an advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Pope Francis appointed Fr. Jose Kalluvelil as the head of the exarchate for the Syro-Malabar Catholic faithful in Canada.

Pope creates exarchate for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada

By

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has established an apostolic exarchate, the precursor to a diocese, for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada and has named their current Toronto-based chaplain, Fr. Jose Kalluvelil, a bishop and head of the exarchate.

The upcoming Synod on the family can expect contentious debate on a number of issues.

Synod’s task is to open hearts to Church views on family

By

Pope Francis is asking for prayers and hoping for miracles ahead of this October’s Synod on the Family.

Page 319 of 509