TORONTO – Cardinal Thomas Collins, in ordaining the two newest members to the Toronto priestly fraternity, let them know that as priests they are called to be servants of their flock.

TORONTO - A statement from Cardinal Thomas Collins to be read in the Archdiocese of Toronto’s 225 parishes urges Catholics to oppose a “chilling” parliamentary committee report on assisted suicide that Collins said “should shock us to the core.”

In a presentation made Feb. 3 in Ottawa to the Special Joint Committee on Physician-assisted Dying, Cardinal Thomas Collins, appearing on behalf of the Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience, opposed physician-assisted suicide and urged lawmakers to protect the conscience rights of health-care providers. Here is a text of his submission.

BRAMPTON, ONT. - Almost seven years ago the Shakar family fled to Canada as war refugees from Iraq with little beyond the clothes on their backs.

OTTAWA - The upcoming federal law regarding physician-assisted death must respect the conscience rights of doctors and other health-care workers, Cardinal Thomas Collins told a Parliamentary committee.

TORONTO - For Manhal Al-Khsom, his wife and his three daughters, prayers for Christian unity are not prayers for some ideal Church of the future, but prayers for his family, his friends and for everything he left behind when he came to Canada last April.

On their 37th day in Canada, the Peters family from Liberia found themselves surrounded by Goans, carrying gifts of bread and wine up to an Irish-Canadian cardinal.

TORONTO - The 5,000 people in Toronto who will sleep outside, in church basements or in shelters on any given night now have their own lobbyist making their case at provincial pre-budget hearings.

TORONTO - Catholic teachers should be genuine in their faith and countercultural agents of holy wisdom, particularly at a time when assisted suicide and euthanasia are coming to Canada, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

TORONTO - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will culminate next month with a final liturgy uniting Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians at the Chaldean Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in the northwest corner of Toronto.

Last week, two vibrant Catholic voices spoke on the same night in venues across the street from each other in downtown Toronto.

TORONTO - With doctors about to become "agents of death" when assisted suicide comes to Canada in three months, politicians and society should instead be focussed on bringing comfort to the dying, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

Inside the Synod hall, things look very different from media reports about conservatives debating liberals over communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, said theologian and Synod auditor Moira McQueen.

VATICAN CITY - Canadians had a rather prominent role in the first week of the Synod on the Family. Two of the language- based discussion groups elected Canadians as their moderators — Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto for one of the English groups, and Cardinal Gerald Lacroix for one of the French.

The Church must uphold “the objective truths of Sacred Scripture” in the face of a secular culture that poses a grave challenge to the Christian view of family, Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins told the Synod of Bishops meeting in the Vatican.