TORONTO - Normally, Lillian Gomez of Toronto would not attend Mass on a Thursday but she did on Dec. 28. What compelled her to attend Mass that cold Thursday was the theme of the service.

TORONTO - Canadians are the third most generous people in the industrialized world, but only half as generous as Americans.

A spate of recent statistical reports on Canadian philanthropy draws a picture of a nation that opens its wallet, but not too wide.

TORONTO - There's no new money but there is a new name for the federal government's program to house the homeless across Canada.

OTTAWA - The Ontario Court of Appeal has recognized three parents in the case of a child being raised by a lesbian couple and has accorded equal rights and obligations to the lesbian partner in addition to the child's biological mother and father.

OTTAWA - The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has written Prime Minister Stephen Harper, raising a number of concerns in the wake of a failed motion to restore the traditional definition of marriage.

TORONTO - Muslim cleric and scholar Shabir Ally's message to high school students with questions about terrorism is that theology matters.

Ally took about 200 high school students from across the Greater Toronto Area through a quick tour of the history of Muslim thought about war and peace. The students were at the University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, for the annual Brebeuf Social Justice Symposium on Dec. 15. Students from half a dozen Catholic schools converged downtown to question a variety of speakers gathered to address the topic  "When faith meets terror."

TORONTO - Instead of reflecting on the tradition of a Hindu marriage ceremony, Grade 11 World Religion students at Bishop Allen Academy in Toronto reflect on the question: "Why do I have to take this course?"

TORONTO - The man who is about to become one of the most powerful churchmen in Canada has no interest in the trappings of power.

Archbishop Thomas Collins has been a success as a seminary professor and rector, as a bishop in northern Alberta and as a metropolitan archbishop in Edmonton. Church insiders are not surprised Collins was appointed to lead Toronto, Canada's largest and richest Catholic diocese by Pope Benedict XVI on Dec. 16.

TORONTO - With the appointment of a replacement, began last week to say his goodbyes to the flock he has led as archbishop for 16 years.

The cardinal said his last noon Mass at St. Michael's Cathedral as archbishop of Toronto Dec. 17, using the occasion to thank all those who had worked with him and for him. And on Dec. 19, he presided over a Christmas thanksgiving Mass with staff at the Catholic Pastoral Centre.

TORONTO - For most people in our society, Christmas is a joyful time spent with family. But for the homeless, it's not a celebration they can relate to.