Rumours that Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet will replace the prefect of the congregation of bishops at the Vatican are just speculation, said an archdiocesan spokesperson.

“We won’t comment on those rumours because they are rumours, especially (because of) the fact that the actual prefect has not retired yet,” said Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre, director of communications for the archdiocese of Quebec.

TORONTO - After nearly three years of getting to know Toronto, the Sisters of Life will celebrate their newly opened Sisters of Life Centre with a special Mass and social gathering on June 12.

Visitors to the celebration will get to tour the new centre, formerly the rectory of St. Catherine of Siena parish. Renovations began last fall and the centre contains two parlours on the first floor for meeting with visitors, a kitchen and dining room, and on the second floor a chapel and six offices equipped with phones and computers for the Sisters to connect pregnant women in need with volunteers and important services.

TORONTO - Serving in Canada’s northern mission dioceses requires a “call within a call,” says 47-year-old Mackenzie-Fort Smith Bishop Murray Chatlain.

Chatlain, who took charge of the diocese two years ago, was in Toronto April 21 to speak about its needs at the annual Tastes of Heaven gala dinner hosted by Catholic Missions In Canada.

Chatlain said the approach of the Church in the north has significantly changed. The Church promotes the use of aboriginal culture and language rather than trying to eradicate it like some priests and religious had done in the past. This requires clergy and lay missionaries to understand what they’re getting into.

Catholic physicians fear that Canada will succumb to pressure from G8 leaders to include abortion in its maternal health care plan for the Third World.

“I bet that will happen if it gets on the table (at the G8 Summit in June in Huntsville, Ont.)” said Dr. Robert Walley, executive director of MaterCare International.

Walley said his greatest concern, if abortion creeps in, is  that it will affect the criteria for obtaining funding. He said the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has repeatedly rejected MaterCare’s request for funding solely on the basis of services he does not provide.

{mosimage}TORONTO - When he first started working as an Oblate missionary priest in the diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, retiring Bishop Denis Croteau went head-to-head with the elements.

{mosimage}TORONTO - One hundred years ago, Catholic missionaries in Canada travelled by horse and buggy and dog team, from east to west and up through the territories to the Arctic. Although their methods of travel have changed, their work continues in all directions, funded by Catholic Missions In Canada.

{mosimage}The Catholic Women’s League of Canada (CWL) adopted a resolution this month to “urge the federal government to take action to prevent human trafficking at the 2010 Olympics.”

The resolution was made at the CWL’s 88th annual national convention in Winnipeg Aug. 10-13. The convention drew more than 750 delegates, representing nearly 98,000 women from across Canada.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - The Loomis family of Goshen, N.Y., was honoured earlier this month as the Knights of Columbus Family of the Year.

The Knights of Columbus awarded the Loomis family the lay order’s International Family of the Year Award during its 126th annual Supreme Convention’s awards ceremony Aug. 7 for best displaying the Knights’ main principles of charity, unity and fraternity.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - At its inception in 1882, the Knights of Columbus played an important role in supporting poor Catholic immigrant families in Connecticut. During a difficult social period for Catholics in America, the Knights of Columbus, started by Fr. Michael J. McGivney, offered financial aid benefits and fraternal encouragement in daily life, soon after expanding to Canada in 1897.

Over the years, the Knights have grown to include more than 13,000 councils and 1.7 million members throughout the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan. And while the order continues to provide Knights and their families with life insurance, the Knights of Columbus have a lot more to offer in today’s society as an organization that raises millions of dollars yearly for charitable causes.

{mosimage}QUEBEC CITY - The Knights of Columbus have vowed to continue speaking out against elected government representatives who challenge life from conception to natural death.

The Knights made this resolution Aug. 7 at the fraternal order’s 126th annual Supreme Convention in Quebec City Aug. 5-7. Two thousand Knights and their families attended the convention, with Knights from across Canada and the United States, as well as from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guam, Philippines and Poland.