VATICAN CITY - The Vatican anticipated the July 1 celebration of Canada Day with a ceremony highlighting the ministry and authority of five new Canadian archbishops.

The archbishops of “the true North, strong and free” knelt before Pope Benedict XVI June 29 and received a woolen band symbolizing the responsibility they share with him of shepherding the church’s flock. They were joined by 41 other archbishops from around the world.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The close vote by the Anglican Church of Canada against allowing same-sex blessings on June 24 will neither end the controversy nor move it toward resolution, judging from the comments of two Catholic observers of the debate.

{mosimage}TORONTO - A recent poll showing massive support for doctor-assisted suicide among Canadians underscores how fearful people are of death and dying, especially if they have no belief in God or eternal life, says the executive director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute .

TORONTO — The Catholic Civil Rights League announced the recipients of this year’s Archbishop Exner Award June 7. This year’s winners are J. Fraser Field and Jim Hughes.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Sometimes religious people are the biggest reason why their opinions get short shrift in public debates on controversial issues, says Preston Manning, an Evangelical Christian and former leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

{mosimage}WATERLOO, Ont. - A priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate has been chosen as the next president of St. Jerome’s University, a Catholic liberal arts college federated with the University of Waterloo.

WATERLOO, Ont. - Louise Ervin, a a Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee, was elected Liberal candidate for the Kitchener-Waterloo riding on April 29. This nomination was the first contested provincial Liberal nomination in Ontario.

GRAND FALLS, Nfld. - For those ready to see the passion of Christ in the suffering of a world in ecological decline, an Ignatian ecology retreat led by Jesuit Father James Profit is being offered at St. Catherine’s Renewal Centre, Grand Falls-Windsor, Nfld., June 3-9.

SASKATOON - Peace equals unity and unity is the whole point of the ecumenical movement. That’s the logic behind this year’s summer ecumenical institute mounted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon.