TORONTO   - The ongoing legal battles of pro-life activist Linda Gibbons received a setback at a Sept. 2 hearing when a judge ruled the case against her did not breach her Charter rights and that her lawyer was not entitled to view nine-year-old documents held by the crown attorney.

Gibbons’ next court date was set for Sept. 30.

Lawyer Daniel Santoro said he was disappointed with the decisions but withheld further comment until after having a chance to review the judge’s detailed ruling, expected to be released during the week of Sept. 7.

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.

TORONTO - The new Roman Missal is coming to an iPhone near you.

The new iPhone application is called the “The New Mass: The New Translation” and was released on July 7. The application allows cellphone users who have an iPhone or iPod device to download the missal for 99-cents and then read it on their screen.

TORONTO - Living in the L’Arche community in France and meeting Jean Vanier led John Meehan to discover his call to become a priest.

“It changed the way I looked at community, the Church, my faith. I wouldn’t be a Jesuit now if it hadn’t been for L’Arche,” he told The Catholic Register.

Meehan, 42, was ordained June 5, along with Teo Ugaban, at Toronto’s Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, with Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., presiding at the Ordination Mass.

Born in Halifax, Meehan started thinking about the priesthood in his teens. But it was his experience in France that led him to consider the Jesuits. The call came during a European backpacking adventure in 1989 when he decided to volunteer at L’Arche and work with individuals with severe disabilities. His eight months living in community and living “very simply” was what attracted him to the vocation.

TORONTO - When Susan Lavallée found her children would be forced to take Quebec’s controversial ethics and religious culture course, the 45-year-old felt she had to stand up for her religious rights as a Catholic parent.

It’s a fight the Drummondville mother of six is willing to take all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“We’re hoping that they will take the case because it’s a very serious case and it’s a case of national interest,” said Lavallée.

TORONTO - Increased use of birth control and improved sex education in schools may be keys to a 10-year decline in Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate, according to a new study by the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada.

Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate fell by 36.9 per cent from 1996 to 2006, said the study published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. The study used Statistics Canada figures. The United States saw a drop of 25 per cent compared to 4.75 for England and Wales and a 19.1-per-cent jump for Sweden, according to the study.

Montreal’s only English-language Catholic newspaper will cease monthly publication immediately and may close entirely next year due to funding cuts.

Catholic Times Editor Eric Durocher told The Catholic Register it’s been an “extremely difficult year” managing the paper after being hit with a $30,000 cut in funding from Pillars Trust Fund, which provides about half of the newspaper’s operating capital.

{mosimage}TORONTO - “God don’t make no junk.” You will find these words printed on a wall of pro-life posters in the second-floor office of Birthright co-president Mary Berney.

Birthright, the world’s first international crisis pregnancy service, is one of several organizations which provide alternatives to abortion. Some pro-life advocates say not enough is being publicized about these options for women.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Less than two weeks after approving an Alberta-based pornographic channel, the CRTC ’s decision to deny the application of two Ottawa-area Christian radio stations is drawing mixed reactions, with some groups alleging there is an anti-Christian bias.

Ottawa’s CHRI Radio was proposing a new FM station featuring Christian talk radio with traditional worship music aimed at an older audience. And Gatineau, Que., resident Fiston Kalabay Mutombo put forward a proposal for a French-language Christian music station.

In its Elections 2008 feature, the Christian, non-profit group Citizens for Public Justice is advocating a review of key election issues from a public justice lens. "A public justice lens challenges us to express love for our neighbour and seek the common good. It puts the values of justice, compassion and care for creation at the centre of political debates," according to its web site.