HAMILTON, ONT. - Although the wheels of administration are known to often turn slowly at the Vatican, all involved acknowledge that it was a particularly long process when, more than 80 years after the subject was first broached, the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hamilton finally received its designation as a minor basilica on Feb. 25 this year.

OTTAWA - After languishing a year in the Senate and a last ditch effort by prominent Liberal Senators to kill it, a bill to axe Section 13 from the Canadian Human Rights Act has received royal assent.

TORONTO - Although school's out for the summer the Toronto Catholic school board didn't miss the opportunity to celebrate Canada Day with its students, albeit a little early.

EDMONTON - The Canadian bishops, along with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, have launched a special fundraising campaign to raise emergency aid for Syrian refugees.

A Vatican diplomat has signalled serious concerns over Canada’s belated attempt to ratify an arms control treaty it signed five years ago.

TORONTO - Last November, while visiting a refugee camp in Lebanon for Syrians fleeing the civil war in their homeland, Lindsay Gladding found out first hand how important World Vision's Child Friendly Spaces are.

OTTAWA - More than 500 people jammed the ballroom of Ottawa's Chateau Laurier Hotel for the first annual National Aboriginal Prayer Breakfast June 21.

OTTAWA - Canada must ensure it continues to respect religious freedom at home if it wants to coherently defend religious freedom abroad, says the former Canadian Ambassador to the Holy See.

CHARLOTTETOWN - Bishop J. Vernon Fougere, the former bishop of the Prince Edward Island diocese of Charlottetown, passed away in a Charlottetown hospital June 18. He was 71.

WINDSOR, ONT. - A Member of Parliament is promoting a government adoption tax credit as a way to come to terms with the “crisis in child welfare” and encourage adoption generally.