Canadian News

News and events from across the country.

ShareLife 2010 campaign goal is $14.15 million

February 19, 2010

TORONTO - After a tremendous campaign to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti, ShareLife has switched gears to now help those in its own backyard. “Our Catholic community has always responded to the needs and been very generous and now, as we do each year, we are going to turn our attention to the needs of our greater community in the archdiocese of Toronto and the many people who rely on ShareLife social service agencies and ShareLife agencies for help each year,” said Arthur Peters, executive director of ShareLife.

Brother André made a saint by Pope

February 19, 2010

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.

Thornhill chapel keeps Eucharist in good company for 25 years

February 19, 2010

THORNHILL, Ont. - For the past 25 years, before 6 a.m. every Sunday, parishioner Eva Parisi stops by St. Paschal Baylon Church’s Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Adoration Chapel to keep watch over the Eucharist. Perpetual eucharistic adoration is an ancient tradition that’s been kept alive for the past quarter century at Catholic churches, including Thornhill’s St. Paschal Baylon.

ShareLife urges creative ways to give

February 19, 2010

TORONTO - Giving to charity doesn’t necessarily mean having to write a cheque or digging around in your pockets for bills and change. At the archdiocese of Toronto, Paul Nazareth, manager of planned giving and personal gifts, gets to see a variety of creative givers, including one donor who gives to 25 different charities all at once through the gift of stocks.

Ordinandi Dinner reaches out to students

February 19, 2010

TORONTO - With more than 1,700 tickets sold and 400 high school students expected to attend, this year’s Ordinandi Dinner will be the biggest in its 19-year history. Among the 1,700 guests for the March 2 dinner will be Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, several priests and hundreds of Catholics from across the archdiocese.

Radio Ville-Marie needs $100,000 to get on air in Gatineau

February 19, 2010

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.

Former military chaplain faces sexual assault charges

February 19, 2010

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.

Church leaders, pro-life MPs call Ignatieff's call for abortion ‘pathetic’

February 13, 2010

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.

A Valentine's spiritual reflection

February 13, 2010

TORONTO - Valentine’s Day meets with spirituality through a special dinner some parishes have adopted to help couples strengthen their relationship and rekindle romances. Table for Two surfaced for the first time at St. Patrick’s parish in Toronto this year, hosted by the Redemptorists. It is modelled on a similar event at a Redemptorist parish in Winnipeg.

Sisters continue prayers for Haiti

February 12, 2010

TORONTO - A religious sister who survived the January earthquake in Haiti reflected on her experience at a prayer vigil in Nathan Phillips Square Feb. 9. “When you pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ think of the Haitians,” said Sr. Mary Alban, CSJ.