{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.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Dr. Rene Leiva may have to leave his family practice in Ontario if the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario takes away his conscience rights.

{mosimage}TORONTO - As the Taliban issued an explicit threat against Canadian aid workers and killings of NGO staff reached record levels in Afghanistan, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace said it remains committed to its work with women’s groups straddling both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the zone of conflict.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - The CNEWA Canada is appealing for emergency funds to help families in western Ukraine displaced by floods described as the worst in a century.

{mosimage}TORONTO - St. Norbert's Roman Catholic Church has acted as both a spiritual and physical stronghold in the weeks following Toronto's north-end propane storage plant explosion.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The saga of Catholic Insight's trouble with the Canadian Human Rights Commission is not over. After having a complaint against the small magazine dismissed in early July, it has now learned that it faces a judicial appeal of that decision.

{mosimage}TORONTO-Growing up in Japan, Sachiko Yasue never particularly noticed Hiroshima Day. Now living in Toronto, the carnage of Aug. 6, 1945 suddenly seemed very real as she surveyed a photo and art exhibit mounted in Toronto City Hall.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Administrative backlogs, a marriage of convenience with the United States and compromised due process in Canada's refugee system have churches taking Canada's government to the Supreme Court and refugee advocates pushing politicians to live up to a law Parliament passed in 2001 and then re-passed this summer.

The Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees will challenge Canada's Safe Third Country agreement with the United States at the Supreme Court of Canada.

{mosimage}PICKERING, Ont. - As he accepted the blessing of Jesuits and their friends at the end of a St. Ignatius Day Mass in Pickering, Ont. July 31, Fr. Jim Webb took up a "heroic, humble task" in imitation of the man who founded the Jesuits 474 years ago.

Webb officially became the provincial superior for the Jesuits of English Canada, taking over from Fr. Jean-Marc Laporte.