TORONTO - A growing number of Canadian families are finding themselves on the losing end of the global financial meltdown.

At Catholic Family Services of Peel and Dufferin, counsellors have seen a 177-per-cent increase in the number of clients whose finances have fallen apart. In 2009-2010 the agency saw a 173-per-cent increase in couples and individuals at its door because of unemployment, housing or related issues.

TORONTO - The end result for Erin O’Brien, a runner in this year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, is giving kids a chance in life.

As one of 200 runners who will be raising funds for the Hope For Children Foundation, O’Brien will be supporting underprivileged children and youth in poor conditions or foster care. Hope For Children, the fundraising arm of the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CCAS), is one of three featured charities in the Waterfront Marathon. In its fourth year of involvement with the race, CCAS hopes to enlist 200 runners like O’Brien to raise a total of $50,000.

TORONTO - There is a seminary with 1,100 men studying for the priesthood. Each year that one seminary turns out a graduating class of hundreds ready for ordination. Since it began with just six students in 1924, this seminary has produced more than 4,000 priests.

Though it may sound like fantasy to any North American Catholic who has visited the echoing halls of their own somewhat less populated seminaries, Bigard Memorial Seminary is a real place. And one of its former rectors believes it should be a resource for the entire Catholic Church, not only for the Metropolitan See of Onitsha in Eastern Nigeria.

OTTAWA - Groups will soon be allowed to distribute holy books at Canadian citizenship ceremonies.

“We’re going to send a directive to all Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) staff who process applications, instructing them if religious groups apply to sit in the back and have copies of holy books, they are entitled to do so,” said Alykhan Velshi, a spokesman for CIC Minister Jason Kenney.

The previous government had banned groups from giving away holy books in 2004, Velshi said.

TORONTO - Jailed pro-life protester Linda Gibbons is seeking to have a 16-year-old “temporary” court injunction overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Gibbons’ lawyer, Daniel Santoro, said the blanket injunction against pro-life protesters is an “abuse” and criminal charges arising from the injunction are  “unconstitutional.”

Santoro told The Catholic Register he submitted an application for a hearing to the Supreme Court on Gibbons’ behalf on Aug. 23. The Court has yet to respond.

The Peace Bridge connecting Canada and the United States at Niagara Falls was lit up on Aug. 26 in honour of the centenary of Mother Teresa’s birth. But it also represented a coming together of cross-border dioceses, said Kevin Keenan, director of communications with the diocese of Buffalo.

Illuminated in blue and white, the colours of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, the Peace Bridge initiative was a result of efforts of Buffalo Bishop Edward U. Kmiec and Msgr. Wayne Kirkpatrick, administrator of the diocese of St. Catharines, Ont.

The Basilian Fathers are encouraging any possible victims of sexual abuse by Fr. Kenneth O’Keefe to come forward.

O’Keefe was charged Aug. 11 with one count of indecent assault stemming from his contact with a teenaged boy at St. Pius X High School in Ottawa in 1972. But if there are other victims or other unreported incidents to be dealt with, the Basilians want to hear about them and will work with police and the court system to see justice is done, said Basilian spokesman Fr. Tom Rosica.

OTTAWA - Canada’s bishops hope the faithful will generously support its work as the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual collection approaches the weekend of Sept. 26.

“The primary purpose of the collection is to help the dioceses in Canada meet their annual per capital contribution to the CCCB,” said conference president Bishop Pierre Morissette in an Aug. 9 letter. “This is the conference’s main source of financing.”

Each diocese is assessed on a per capita basis for its contribution to the running of the bishops’ secretariat of 40 staff members and the work the bishops do in common, whether it is government relations, those with other episcopal conferences or the Holy See.

TORONTO - After a decade of service as the director of deacons, Deacon Bert Cambre is leaving as head of the diaconate office following some internal restructuring in the archdiocese of Toronto.

Cambre’s last day in office will be Aug. 31.

He leaves the office with many accomplishments under his belt.

QUEBEC CITY - In his new duties helping the Pope choose bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet will be looking for bold “men of faith” who have “the guts to help people live it out.”

A bishop has to lead the community, so he needs a deep supernatural vision as well as the capacity to assess the political, cultural and sociological context, said Ouellet, the new Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Above all, a bishop must be “audacious in proposing the Word and in believing in the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit.”