NEWS

On any given day more than 160,000 Canadians over 18 are in jail, though only 38,000 of them have been convicted of a crime. Despite a decline in crime rates, the rate at which Canadians are jailed rose by five per cent between 2001 and 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

OTTAWA - Nova Scotia’s Antigonish diocese plans a series of public encounters to reach out to sexual abuse victims and those hurt by a former bishop’s child porn conviction.

The Catholic argument against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia need not be based on religious precepts, and if it is presented in explicitly religious terms it will probably lose, said students from the University of St. Michael’s College after watching Dr. Donald Low’s plea for assisted suicide recorded eight days before he died.

TORONTO - Pope Francis was elected the Bishop of Rome eight months ago, but the honeymoon isn’t over yet. The new pope continues to invigorate the faithful and captivate the secular media, and Fr. Tom Rosica believes he knows why.

OTTAWA - Documents from the Mulroney era prior to the last attempt to pass a federal law restricting abortion reveal a deep divide in the Conservative cabinet, says Canadian Press.

OTTAWA - With the Conservative Party aiming to take a hard line with unions, a number of Catholic voices are speaking out, both pro and con.

WASHINGTON - More than 35,000 people are living on the 40-acre diocesan compound in Bossangoa, Central African Republic, seeking protection from rebels who are targeting Christians, said the local bishop.

MANILA, Philippines - Nearly two weeks after Super Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines, Catholic aid workers were seeing great needs.

MEXICO CITY - Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Ont., recalled once having a parish that needed a new furnace and was considering hiring a youth pastor. The parishioners raised $90,000 in three weeks for the furnace, but failed to find funds for the youth pastor, figuring there were few young people to serve.

MANILA, Philippines - The grandstand of Villamor Air Base was buzzing with teams of workers trying to help people displaced by the super typhoon that struck the central Philippines 10 days earlier.