TORONTO - William Downe, president and chief executive officer of BMO Financial Group, has been appointed as chair of the 28th annual Cardinal’s Dinner, the largest fund-raising dinner in Canada.

TORONTO - A healthy dose of silence and the discipline of meditation are on tap at St. John’s Convent, 233 Cummer Ave. in Toronto, when the Christian Meditation Community of Toronto hosts its May 11-13 retreat.

OTTAWA - Green Party Leader Elizabeth May hopes to change the conversation in Ottawa.

Though best known for its environmental stance, the Green Party also stresses social justice, fair trade instead of free trade and non-violence. But Mays views on families, communities and the common good may also attract Catholic voters and potential candidates.

Newmarket, Ont. - Inside the main gathering space of Rose of Sharon Services for Young Mothers hangs homemade colourful quilts, boxes of infant toys lay on the carpet, all by a well-used rocking chair. The all-female 15-person staff create a home-away-from-home atmosphere for hundreds of teen mothers and their pre- and post-natal children who use the centre’s services.

Mississauga, Ont. - A Tragic Events Response Team (TERT) arrived at St. Alfred’s Catholic School here April 12 to give support to students and teachers in their time of grief for 10-year-old schoolmate, John Pham, who died as a result of a bus accident on Hwy 410 south of Brampton the day before.

Ontario’s Catholic bishops have chosen Bishop James Wingle as president of its executive.

TORONTO - It’s unlikely that the Oct. 10 Ontario election will be fought over the issue of prayer and meditation at Queen’s Park. It’s equally unlikely members of the provincial legislature and their staffs will have a room set aside for contemplation and related inactivities before election day.

TORONTO - More than half a trillion dollars, almost a fifth of Canada’s investment capital, is now invested with one eye on the ethical bottom line.

TORONTO - Like the tulips defying the last gasps of winter, preparations for ordinations are another sure sign of spring in Toronto.

TORONTO — From Julian of Norwich, Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila and hundreds of others, Christian women draw on a rich heritage of mysticism. Rev. Glenda Meakin of the Christian Meditation Community of Canada will outline that heritage at the regular monthly teaching meeting of the Christian Meditation Community of Toronto on April 26.