News/Canada

OTTAWA - It may be tempting to ignore the Old Testament, or spiritualize its more bloodthirsty or seemingly contradictory stories, but wrestling with them can lead to a deeper understanding of the Gospel and the nature of the Triune God, says Scripture scholar Edith Humphrey.

Whether it is the story of Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son Isaac, God’s genocidal ban placed on some of the peoples who already inhabited the Promised Land or God portrayed as angry, jealous or vengeful, these difficulties have sometimes led to heresy and they continue to tempt Christians to avoid the Old Testament.

When a union declares itself pro-choice and tries to shut down debate about the legal status of a fetus, its stand is neither progressive nor representative of its membership, said Toronto pro-life feminist Martha Crean.

The Canadian Auto Workers wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper June 7 objecting to any debate in Parliament over the legal definition of a human being, as proposed by Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s Motion-312. The nation’s largest private sector union, representing over 200,000 workers, also organized counter protests to denounce a series of anti-abortion protests organized by the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform.

The CAW-led protests backfired in Windsor June 24 when more people showed up for a protest against the CAW position, and Local 444 president Dino Chiodo distanced himself from the official CAW protest by telling the media it had been organized above the heads of Windsor union officials.

As the sprawl crawls toward them, the Canadian Church’s first option for helping and healing priests with addictions, depression and other psychological issues is pulling up stakes.

The Southdown Institute has broken ground on a new address at the north end of East Gwillimbury, Ont. Surrounded once again by farm country, the new Southdown facility in Holland Landing will aim to better serve an aging population with up-to-date strategies for dealing with everything from eating disorders to dementia, said Southdown CEO Sr. Miriam Ukeritis of the Congregation of St. Joseph.

With 18 million people either starving now or facing near term shortage of food, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace and its Caritas partners are ramping up fundraising efforts with a new video that explains the crisis through the eyes of people in Niger and Mali.

The eight-minute video (embedded at the bottom of this article) aims to make people aware of how Caritas is fighting for people’s lives. The English version is called Niger: On the Hunger Frontline.

OTTAWA - The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) warns Canada is veering in a "dangerous direction" towards euthanasia and assisted suicide and urges Catholics to enter the public debate on end-of-life care.

"It is impossible to remain silent following the June 15 decision by Justice Lynn Smith of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in the Carter case," said COLF director Michèle Boulva in a July 4 release. "As citizens of a country which claims to be civilized, Catholics and all people of good will have the right and duty to counter any attempt to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, and also to promote palliative care and true compassion."

OTTAWA - A popular Ottawa priest who admitted last year to a gambling addiction was charged July 3 with one count each of theft, fraud, criminal breach of trust and laundering the proceeds of crime.

Fr. Joe LeClair, 55, will appear in court July 25 to answer the charges related to the financial administration of Blessed Sacrament parish in Ottawa's Glebe neighbourhood.

The Ottawa Police Organized Fraud investigation allege more than $240,000 in parish cheques were "misappropriated by the parish priest, Joseph LeClair," according to a July 3 news release, and "over $160,000 in cash revenues were unaccounted for." The investigation reviewed parish finances from January 2006 to May 2011.

TORONTO - When injustice becomes visible, it becomes intolerable, pro-life activist Jonathon Van Muren told an audience of about 150 spectators at the New Abortion Caravan's Toronto stop June 28.

"Great injustices have been conquered before," Van Muren told the crowd gathered at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Toronto's west end. He compared the fight to end abortion to the battles against slavery, child labour and segregation.

For weeks Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace members have been getting their word in edgewise in the House of Commons.

Before Parliament broke for the summer MPs tabled about a dozen petitions asking the government to restore the Canadian bishops’ development agency’s CIDA funding to $49.2 million over the next five years. In February the Canadian International Development Agency cut that number to $14.5 million.

The petitions, most of them from Quebec, also ask the Conservatives to recommit to increasing Canada’s overseas development assistance to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product. Canada currently spends 0.34 per cent of GDP on foreign aid, one of the lowest percentages among all donor countries. The 2012 federal budget announced plans to cut development assistance a further 7.5 per cent over the next three years.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is drafting a policy to make decisions about overseas partners, especially if controversy arises, that will give the agency the final call concerning its non-Catholic partners in the global south.

It’s dubbed the “3D approach to partnership,” according to a joint news release June 18 from D&P and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. The 3Ds are dialogue, discernment and decision.

“Dialogue would include conversations by Development and Peace with its actual or proposed partners,” the joint release said. “Discernment includes the ways by which (D&P) liaises and dialogues with its partners and with the bishops of Canada as well as with local bishops in the global south.”

Christians aiding refugees is nothing new. Christians taking the Canadian government to court so refugees won’t be denied medication, artificial limbs or rehabilitative therapy is.

Hospitality House Refugee Ministry in Winnipeg has launched a lawsuit on behalf of the Anglican diocese of Rupert’s Land claiming breach of contract against Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Hospitality House is trying to block government plans to strip down its health insurance plan for refugees.

Cuts to the Interim Federal Healthcare Program for refugees take effect June 30.