The real tragedy surrounding a suicide crisis that has devastated a remote Manitoba community is that it represents just the latest instalment in a Canadian saga that shows no sign of a final chapter.

I was surprised recently to read that defunding Catholic schools was the leading piece of advice the Ontario Government had received so far in its budget consultations. And I couldn’t help thinking that just because you have a thought, an idea, a proposal, it doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud. And even if you feel compelled to utter it, forcing the rest of us to listen, it doesn’t mean we have to pay serious attention.

As Canada continues to fall far short of raising $100 million for Syria relief, more than a quarter of the money raised so far across Canada was raised by three Catholic agencies.

The federal government has been given four more months to come up with new laws and regulations to govern the practice of doctor-assisted suicide.

Widespread opposition to doctor-assisted suicide is beginning to reshape consultations on how Ontario should regulate the practice in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision to decriminalize voluntary euthanasia in some circumstances.

Ottawa - As the new Liberal government pushes ahead with an ambitious plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by Christmas, it is also faces urgent challenges on three other issues important to the Church: climate change, indigenous rights and assisted suicide.

OTTAWA - Canada’s new Liberal government has announced the launch of an ambitious initiative to fulfill a campaign promise and rescue 25,000 Syrian refugees by Christmas.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his new 30-member cabinet face big challenges as the new Liberal government now must decide which election promises to make reality, say observers.

OXFORD, England - Congo's Catholic bishops criticized the failure of Western governments to stop the abuse of the continent's natural resources and urged church groups to follow the pope's call to mobilize.

WARSAW, Poland - A Ukrainian bishop said a Russian-backed separatist rebellion has plunged his country into its worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War and warned that "millions of refugees" could soon head for Europe to escape starvation.

TORONTO - A motion calling for the province to delay implementation of Ontario's controversial new sex-ed curriculum in Toronto Catholic schools has been defeated.

OXFORD, England - French Catholics have urged church support for a campaign to stop Western companies from buying oil from Islamic State, in effect funding the mass killing of Christians.

TORONTO - The walls of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen’s Park are engraved with the names of former legislators from the province’s past. Not many of these names are female. It’s something a group of girls from Waterloo, Ont., wants to change.

TORONTO - Close to 500 people, equal numbers of native and non-native Canadians, walked through a cold, constant rain in Toronto to urge reconciliation on Canada’s largest city.

BUKAVU, Congo - Bishops from eastern Congo criticized the failure of their government and the United Nations to act against "genocide, jihadist fundamentalism and Balkanization" in the country, which is widely considered Africa's most Catholic.