Features/Features

It's the first Sunday of the month. Gathered in the chapel of the old monastery wing of St. Gabriel's parish in North York, a Noah's Ark of Christians and environmental soul-searchers, young and old, from all walks of life and places, welcome the awesome grandeur and wisdom of God's creation.

They are searching for inspiration. The intensity and frequency of ecological destruction that we carry out daily on Earth's ecosystems - its waters, air, soil, vegetation, animals and humans - cry out for reflection in community.

In response to the death of 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, Canada's Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is reminding the public of its power of attorney document aimed at preserving life.

OTTAWA - Terri Schiavo's slow death by dehydration and starvation after the March 18 removal of her feeding tube has pro-life activists and experts in medical ethics concerned about the implications for euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide in Canada.

The mainstream news media have framed Schiavo's story as a 'right to die' issue, because her husband's decision to have the feeding tube removed was based on his claims that Terri had told him she would not want to live should she be stricken with a disability like the persistent vegetative state doctors say was brought on by heart failure 15 years ago.

TORONTO - All the favourite arguments for euthanasia are on display in the latest attempt in Europe to jettison bans on allowing doctors to legally put someone to death, says one of North America's top bioethicists. And they can all be countered by solid reasoning.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The battle over using human embryos in stem-cell research is not just about creating cures for dreaded diseases. It is more importantly about treating human life as raw material that is expendable in the pursuit of scientific research, says Bishop Ron Fabbro of London, Ont.

OTTAWA - The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) says the media and the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPA) have 'glossed over' the abortive potential of the so-called morning-after pill.

The federal government announced in May that it plans to make the morning-after pill available without a prescription across Canada. Currently, the pill is only available without prescription in British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

TORONTO - Friendly volunteers checked bags. Police hovered discreetly at the back of the room. After weeks of spray-painted swastikas and arson, everybody expected the security and nobody talked about it.

Recent hate crimes wouldn't stop about 300 Muslims, Jews and Catholics from gathering at Beth Tikvah Synagogue to listen to ethicists and doctors speak about how to care for their dying parents.

TORONTO - How many Christians does it take to change a standard incandescent light bulb to an environmentally friendly one? Though this sounds like a comic riddle, for Christian faith communities who came to Toronto from across Canada for the National Consultation on Energy Efficiency for Religious Buildings Nov. 17-18, the issue of energy consumption was a deeply spiritual matter.

{mosimage}HAMILTON, Ont. - Bobby Schindler, brother to Terri Schiavo, said his family had no idea how powerful and aggressive the pro-euthanasia movement is in the United States until they were faced with its full force in the legal battle over his sister's life.

"The underlying issue is money," the 41-year-old Schindler told The Catholic Register April 21 at the annual conference of Ontario Alliance for Life.

OTTAWA - The RCMP investigation into a complaint laid by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition concerning the death of a Nova Scotia woman who sought assisted suicide in Switzerland will not lead to any charges being laid.