NEWS

VATICAN CITY - The international community must act swiftly and decisively to end the violence in Syria, which "risks becoming a widespread conflict that would have seriously negative consequences for the country and the entire region," Pope Benedict XVI said.

The Pope expressed his prayers and hopes for peace in Syria during a meeting June 21 with Catholic Church representatives from throughout the Middle East, including the nuncio to Syria and the president of Caritas Syria, and with leaders of Eastern Catholic churches.

The representatives and leaders were at the Vatican for a meeting of the Vatican's coordinating body for church funding agencies that assist Eastern Catholics and Catholics throughout the Middle East.

The violence in Syria began in March 2011 and has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians as soldiers battle forces seeking an end to the rule of President Bashar Assad.

WASHINGTON - Federal funding for foreign poverty-focused development and humanitarian aid programs must be preserved as Congress continues debating the fiscal year 2013 budget, said officials from two church agencies.

In particular, officials from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services called for support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, because of high levels of success in the prevention and treatment of AIDS around the world under the program.

PHILADELPHIA - After jury members said they could not agree on four of five charges in a Philadelphia clergy abuse trial June 20, Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina instructed them to continue deliberations in order to reach a verdict.

Sarmina suggested June 20 -- the 12th day of jury deliberations -- that they rehear portions of testimony from two accusers to help them finalize their decision. She also turned down a defense request for a mistrial.

As the New Abortion Caravan makes its way across Canada, it has drawn a variety of reactions.

One of the most aggressive shows of disapproval came when a pregnant team member was egged, said Stephanie Gray. And in Winnipeg, a group of about 30 protesters gathered outside Living Christ Community Church, where the members were presenting, beating on pots and pans.

OTTAWA - Politicians across party lines in the House of Commons and Senate have launched the all-party Anti-Poverty Caucus to examine ways to fight poverty across Canada.

“I think we all understand the moral issues,” said Senator Art Eggleton, a former Liberal cabinet minister and mayor of Toronto, one of three co-chairs at the June 12 launch. “We all understand this is not right for our country.”

TORONTO - The bell tower of St. Peter’s Church in downtown Toronto may be crumbing, but Angela Barbieri hopes the parish’s generosity of spirit still remains strong.

Barbieri is heading up a fundraising campaign in hopes of raising the $400,000 necessary for the repairs to the 87-year-old church. The bell tower was in such dire need of repair that the archdiocese of Toronto has loaned the church half of that amount to begin the work right away.

Scaffolding now surrounds the tower as workers have begun the repairs to the church.

The following are the clergy appointments for the archdiocese of Toronto which take place on June 27, unless otherwise noted.

The Catholics in Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 Earth Summit aren’t quite sold on classic capitalism, nor are they buying a new green version of the markets-solve-everything ideology.

“We have allowed the rules of the marketplace to get out of control and to distort our desires and imaginations,” said a statement from the coalition of the developed world’s Catholic aid organizations, CIDSE, just before the United Nations-sponsored event, which took place June 20-22.

TORONTO - It's more jail time for anti-abortion activist Linda Gibbons, at least another month, as the next ruling in her case won't be made until July 20.

Gibbons remains imprisoned for violating a court order — from 1994 — for handing out graphic pamphlets of aborted fetuses outside a Toronto abortion clinic.

"The judge needs time to decide so she's going to have to sit there and wait until he makes his decision, Gibbons' lawyer Daniel Santoro told The Catholic Register.

RIO DE JANEIRO - With political leaders from around the world gathering in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the future of the planet, Catholic leaders said governments must not forget to put people at the forefront of their policies.

At a press conference June 17 at St. Sebastian Cathedral, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio and permanent observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, reiterated the Holy See's position that people must remain at the center of policies in all aspects of sustainable development.