News/Canada

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}OTTAWA - The pro-life movement stands to lose some staunch political allies before the next federal election. Nine members of Parliament sympathetic to the cause have said they will not run again.

{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}OTTAWA - Fifty years ago, at the beginning of the Cold War, 22 of the world’s greatest scientists gathered in the village of Pugwash, N.S., to talk about the threat of nuclear weapons.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - When the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) set up a Facebook group on the Internet called The Great Canadian Wish List , perhaps no one could have predicted that “Abolish Abortion in Canada” would rise to first place almost from the very start.

{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}OTTAWA - The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has raised alarms about the growing number of displaced persons needing assistance, especially in Iraq and Sudan.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Neither Canada nor the G8 nations are living up to their obligations to Africa when it comes to fighting AIDS or alleviating poverty, the Canadian director of the African Jesuit AIDS Network told The Catholic Register at the conclusion of the latest G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - On June 1, Pope Benedict XVI made three Episcopal appointments in Canada and accepted two resignations, close on the heels of recent appointments to Ottawa, Edmonton and Saint John, N.B.