{mosimage}The federal government has some explaining to do about climate change and tax breaks. A coalition of churches with the help of an environmental legal group are hoping to hear what the government has to say early in 2008.

TORONTO - Churches believe the moment has finally arrived when poverty is about to mix with politics in Canada, and the faith community wants an invitation to the party.

{mosimage}In less than a year the church in Prince Edward Island could cut two-thirds of its parishes. Demographic shifts, an overstretched and aging priesthood and financial pressures are driving the diocese of Charlottetown to consider reducing the number of parishes, missions and chapels it is committed to maintaining from 59 to 17.

{mosimage}TORONTO - There really is a new world order, and Canada has stumbled into a critical role in it, Sen. Romeo Dallaire told a gathering at the University of Toronto as he helped launch the anti-genocide Aegis Trust in Canada Nov. 3.

{mosimage}Things are so bad at the provincial jail in Saskatoon that three bishops — Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran — have gone public with their concerns, describing how men are forced to urinate into bottles because there isn’t enough staff to accompany them from dormitory-style cell blocks to the washroom.

{mosimage}TORONTO - If you’ve ever wondered what’s wrong with you, don’t ask Dr. Wayne Hammond. A clinical psychologist with a master of divinity degree, he probably knows — but he won’t tell you.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Cardinal Avery Dulles is ready to testify on behalf of his niece, who has been charged at the Quebec-U.S. border with human trafficking.

{mosimage}TORONTO - In uncertain markets, ethically minded investors have shared in the uncertainty. The Jantzi Social Index of 60 Canadian stocks selected on the basis of their environmental, social and governance practices dropped 0.7 per cent of its overall value in August.

{mosimage} TORONTO - Pope Paul VI had a name for the kind of people who will gather for Mass at St. Basil’s Church on the University of Toronto campus 2 p.m. Oct. 27. He called them “The Artisans of Destiny.”

With a $100,000 lifeline from the United Church of Canada, Canada’s ecumenical justice coalition KAIROS has until fall to either restart its international programs with new federal funding or reshape itself as a smaller, more domestically focussed organization.

KAIROS has reapplied to the Canadian International Development Agency to restore some of the funding that was cut off Nov. 30. At the time CIDA officials claimed KAIROS’ regular five-year funding agreement was rejected because the church-based group’s international program no longer fit CIDA priorities. However, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told a conference in Jerusalem his government had cut KAIROS funding because it supported anti-Semitism.