News/Canada

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey’s trial on charges of possessing and importing child pornography has been set for the spring of 2011.

The trial will begin April 26, 2011 and run until May 6, Assistant Crown Attorney David Elhadad told CCN.

The former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., is not expected to appear in an Ottawa court until his trial starts in more than a year’s time. Lahey has been living in a retired priest’s residence in the Ottawa archdiocese since Oct. 9.

{mosimage}VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will create six new saints Oct. 17, including Blessed André Bessette, the first Canadian-born man to become a saint.

Brother André founded St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal and was known for his intense piety, famed for miraculous cures and praised for his dedication to building the shrine to honour St. Joseph.

{mosimage}A new Christian radio station in the Ottawa-Gatineau region could be on the airwaves some time this year, as long as the $100,000 price tag for broadcasting doesn’t stand in the way.

On Sept. 23, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a request for the archdiocese of Gatineau to broadcast French language programming from Radio Ville-Marie , a station based in Montreal.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - A former military Chaplain General, a Roman Catholic, has been charged with sexual assault following alleged incidents 38 years ago at Canadian Forces Base Borden.

Military investigators confirmed the charge on Feb. 16. The current Chaplain General, Brigadier-General David Kettle, issued a statement in which he said his office is co-operating fully in an investigation by the Military Police and the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada.

{mosimage}TORONTO - It is “astonishing” and “pathetic” that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is advocating that Canada fund overseas abortions as part of a strategy to improve health care for women and children, said Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Calgary Bishop Fred Henry.

The bishops were responding to statements made by the opposition leader after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada, as president of the G8, would champion an international initiative to bring basic health care to mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries. Ignatieff declared his party would only support the initiative if Harper’s measures included provisions for abortion and contraception.

{mosimage}As February dawned the Games were already on for British Columbia Catholics getting ready to welcome Olympic athletes, media and fans for the XXI Winter Games.

“I was in the athletes’ village this morning, just making sure everything is set up for Mass tomorrow morning,” Msgr. Jerry Desmond told The Catholic Register  just days before the opening ceremonies.

{mosimage}TORONTO - This year’s 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer, fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil kicks off on Feb. 17, Ash Wednesday, in 162 cities across Canada, the United States, Australia and Northern Ireland.

Toronto will be one of six participating Canadian cities for the pro-life campaign, running to March 28. Participants will gather at the intersection of Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West near the Women’s Care Clinic to pray for an end to abortion, said Nicole Campbell, national director for 40 Days for Life. Other vigils will take place in Montreal, Guelph, Ont., Edmonton, Red Deer, Alta., and Kelowna, B.C.

OTTAWA - An official from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said King’s Glory Fellowship of Calgary lost its charitable status for failing to file its annual financial report.

Its controversial lay pastor Artur Pawlowski admitted he did miss the deadline. He believes, however, King’s Glory Fellowship’s charitable status has not been restored because of his vocal defence of Christian teaching.

(See Calgary bishop comes to defence of lay pastor )

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Concerned by reports that the Vancouver Winter Olympics could provide an ideal climate for human trafficking, Canada’s Catholic bishops have issued a pastoral letter denouncing a dehumanizing crime that, says the United Nations, affects 2.5 million people worldwide.

The Jan. 26 letter, signed by members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, said major sporting events often see “systems put in place to satisfy the demand for paid sex” and “this is likely to be the case during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.”

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey's next court date on charges of possession and importation of child pornography has been set for April 9.

The former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., did not appear in court Feb. 3 when one of his lawyers arranged for the new court date. He is unlikely to appear in court on April 9 either, according to his lawyer Michael Edelson.