NEWS

TORONTO - If it hadn't been for Catholic Missions In Canada, many of the missions would not have been able to survive, said Archbishop emeritus Peter Sutton of the archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas.

For bringing the Gospel to northern communities, Sutton was presented the St. Joseph Award at the annual Tastes of Heaven fundraising dinner for Catholic Missions In Canada April 19. 

NANCHONG, China - Bishop Joseph Chen Gong'ao was ordained April 19 as the bishop of Nanchong and made a pledge to strengthen formation and promote new evangelization.

The 47-year-old prelate, the first Chinese bishop to be ordained this year, was approved by Pope Benedict XVI and is recognized by the Chinese government, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.

He told UCA News that his priority is to enhance the quality of priests, seminarians and nuns so that "the diocese's evangelistic work would be developed in a more systematic manner."

DUBLIN - Ireland's parliament rejected legislation that would have allowed a controversial 1992 Supreme Court ruling permitting abortion in limited circumstances to take effect.

The Socialist Party motion was defeated 111-20 April 19.

OTTAWA - Bishops in Ottawa and Victoria received two groups from the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) into the Roman Catholic Church April 15, including two former ACCC bishops and about a half dozen clergy.

"Today, the Body of Christ is a little more healed, a little more unified," Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast told more than 700 people who packed St. Patrick's Basilica. "Today, after half a millennium, separated brethren are separated no more. We are brethren, rejoicing at the same banquet table. Hallelujah."

VATICAN CITY - Citing "serious doctrinal problems which affect many in consecrated life," the Vatican announced a major reform of an association of women's religious congregations in the United States to ensure their fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women's ordination and homosexuality.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle will provide "review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work" of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Vatican announced April 18. The archbishop will be assisted by Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., and draw on the advice of fellow bishops, women religious and other experts.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appealed a federal judge's ruling that the Constitution forbids religious accommodation in the delivery of services under a federal contract.

The appeal challenges the decision of District Court Judge Richard Stearns, who said in a March 23 ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution in delegating to the bishops' conference the decision on which services to offer or not offer to foreign-born victims of human trafficking under a federal contract.

VATICAN CITY - In what the Vatican described as an encouraging "step forward," the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X has revised its response to a Vatican document laying out certain basic doctrinal principles and criteria for interpreting church teaching.

The latest response submitted by Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, arrived at the Vatican April 17. It will be examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and then "placed under the judgment of the Holy Father," said a brief communique from the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," which is handling the Vatican's discussions with the SSPX.

INDIANAPOLIS - The apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis spoke out against the "attempted ordination" of an ex-nun to the priesthood.

"I am saddened that the woman who attempted ordination and anyone who took part in this invalid ceremony have chosen to take such a public action to separate themselves from the church," said an April 17 statement by Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Indianapolis, who is overseeing the archdiocese until a successor is named for recently retired Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein.

RICHMOND HILL, ONT. - Two York Region charities are joining forces to get the word out about an issue they say goes mostly unnoticed — the poverty that exists in this suburban landscape.   

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Mosaic Interfaith Out of the Cold have planned a “Walk Against Poverty” May 12 to raise both awareness about poverty in the area and some much-needed funds.

Dawn Hayes is a volunteer with the St. Patrick-Markham conference of the Society of St. Vincent, a charitable Catholic organization that provides financial and emotional support to families in need. Her parish, St. Patrick’s in Markham, provides support to more than 30 families.

VATICAN CITY -- The current U.S. debate over religious freedom should inspire Catholics in Europe to seek greater legal protection of their right to conscientious objection, according to a retired Vatican cardinal.

Believers and institutions must have a legal right to invoke conscientious objection when faced with "legislative norms that, because of their moral implications, are in conflict with moral norms officially affirmed by one's religious authorities," said Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, former president of the commission governing Vatican City State.