News/Canada

OTTAWA - Recent attacks by federal politicians on Opus Dei have raised concerns about efforts to drive Christians out of public life.

A number of Opposition politicians accused Opus Dei of being “fundamentalist,” right wing and “creepy” and having an undue influence on the Tory government, attacks that began after Msgr. Fred Dolan, Vicar for Opus Dei in Canada, spoke at a May 26 luncheon at the Parliamentary restaurant for MPs, Senators and Parliament Hill staff.

OTTAWA - Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Ottawa's Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., are among nine church leaders who will join an apostolic visit to Ireland to help the Irish Church reeling from a sexual abuse crisis.

“It’s a common practice when there is a problem or a struggle or a difficulty of any kind for the Holy See to have a visitation,” said Collins.

 

An allegation of abuse in Newfoundland has triggered the immediate suspension of a priest in Prince Edward Island.

P.E.I. Bishop Richard Grecco suspended Fr. George Smith from pastoral duties at St. Malachy’s Church in Kinkora, P.E.I. within 24 hours of learning of the allegation against Smith in the diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador.

As Jeremy Hinzman faced final judgment on whether Canada would keep him, Parliament began debate on a bill that would force the government to respect the conscience of U.S. soldiers like Hinzman who fled to Canada rather than fight in Iraq.

The Federal Court of Appeal has reserved judgment on legal issues underpinning Hinzman’s application for humanitarian and compassionate leave to remain in Canada despite a 2008 deportation order. The court’s decision on Hinzman’s case could take months.

OTTAWA - A eucharistic procession across the Ottawa River to Parliament Hill May 22 provided a sign of the spread of a new youth movement’s from Quebec to the rest of Canada.

The Pentecost Eve procession crowned the May 21-24 Youth Summit/Montée Jeunesse here.  The summits began in the years leading up to the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City as a way of harnessing youth creativity and energy.  Now the Summits continue as a fruit of the congress.  The Ottawa summit was the sixth and the first held outside of Quebec.

OTTAWA (CCN) — Cardinal Marc Ouellet has vowed not to be silenced on the “crime” of abortion and has answered his critics by demanding federal government funding to assist pregnant women.

In an interview on May 23 and at a press conference May 27, Ouellet expressed surprise at harsh political and media reaction to his recent  comments in which he stated that abortion is a moral crime even in cases of rape. He was vilified in the media and one popular La Presse columnist called him an ayatollah and extremist and wished the cardinal would die from a slow, painful illness.  

OTTAWA - A popular Quebec columnist said he hopes Cardinal Marc Ouellet will die after a long, painful illness because he called abortion a moral crime even in cases of rape.

“Why should we push a woman who has been the victim of a crime to commit one of her own,” Ouellet told a pro-life conference in Quebec City May 15, prompting a province-wide backlash.

OTTAWA  - The largest ever March for Life May 13 marked growing momentum for the pro-life movement.

The crowd estimated at 12,500 celebrated the recent defeat of the euthanasia and assisted suicide Bill C-384 and Parliament’s vote to not include abortion in a Canadian-led G8 maternal and child health initiative.

Montreal’s only English-language Catholic newspaper will cease monthly publication immediately and may close entirely next year due to funding cuts.

Catholic Times Editor Eric Durocher told The Catholic Register it’s been an “extremely difficult year” managing the paper after being hit with a $30,000 cut in funding from Pillars Trust Fund, which provides about half of the newspaper’s operating capital.

Catholic physicians fear that Canada will succumb to pressure from G8 leaders to include abortion in its maternal health care plan for the Third World.

“I bet that will happen if it gets on the table (at the G8 Summit in June in Huntsville, Ont.)” said Dr. Robert Walley, executive director of MaterCare International.

Walley said his greatest concern, if abortion creeps in, is  that it will affect the criteria for obtaining funding. He said the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has repeatedly rejected MaterCare’s request for funding solely on the basis of services he does not provide.