NEWS

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville said he did not "fire" a priest from his pastorate for using his own wording in some parts of the Mass but was obligated to correct the situation as shepherd of the diocese.

The bishop accepted the resignation of Father William Rowe, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Mount Carmel for the past 17 years, after several meetings with the 72-year-old priest over the last five years failed to resolve the bishop's concerns about how Father Rowe celebrated the Mass, especially after the implementation of the new Roman Missal in late November.

VATICAN CITY - For perhaps the first time ever, Anglican hymns, chants and prayers reverberated off the marble walls of St. Peter's Basilica as some members of the world's first ordinariate for former Anglicans celebrated their coming into the Catholic Church.

"Wonderful is not a strong enough word to express how we feel to be here," where the apostle Peter gave his life "and where his successors guarded the faith for generations," said Father Len Black in his homily.

VATICAN CITY - The majority of the world's fertility specialists have spent so much time and effort trying to promote and perfect in vitro fertilization that they have wasted resources and time that could have been used to find ways to prevent and treat infertility, a U.S. physician told a Vatican audience.

"Infertility is a symptom of an underlying condition," and too many physicians do not even attempt to find the cause and treat it; they simply recommend in vitro fertilization, said Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and director of the Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Neb.

WINDSOR, Ont. - Four former Windsor students of Fr. William ”Hod” Hodgson Marshall are suing the priest, the Congregation of St. Basil and the diocese of London for claims arising from sexual abuse for which the now 89-year-old priest has been convicted.

Marshall was sentenced last June to two years in jail after pleading guilty to 17 counts of indecent assault between 1962 and 1985 for cases that arose in Windsor, Toronto and Sudbury. Marshall was a teacher, coach and principal at schools in those cities.

WARSAW, Poland - The spokesman for the Polish bishops' conference defended its handling of sexual abuse accusations against Catholic clergy as the bishops prepared to adopt guidelines on the issue.

"The church is the only institution in Poland systematically dealing with this -- no one else is," said Father Jozef Kloch, conference spokesman. "Although we're being used as a whipping boy, we know from data there's a much lower incidence of pedophilia among Catholic priests than clergy from other denominations, as well as teachers, home care employees, sports coaches and, unfortunately, parents and relatives."

BENGHAZI, Libya - As Benghazi residents marked the anniversary of Libya's revolution, the head of the city's diminished Catholic community spoke of a need to rebuild his congregation and of the uncertainties ahead.

"Thank God everything passed peacefully" on the anniversary, Bishop Sylvester Magro said after the Feb. 19 Mass attended by just a few dozen, mainly Filipino, worshippers.

"After such a prolonged war you are always in doubt of what might happen next," the bishop said.

TORONTO - Cardinal Thomas Collins was big news over the two weeks leading up to his elevation to the College of Cardinals.

Every major news organization in Canada covered the event in Rome with news reports, analysis, feature interviews, photos, videos and live blogging. Canada’s largest newspaper kicked its coverage off with a two-part profile of Collins that ate up pages of precious newsprint.

“It was acres, wasn’t it?” said Toronto Star associate editor Alison Uncles. “It was thousands of words.”

OTTAWA - A bill to create a national suicide-prevention strategy received overwhelming multi-party support Feb. 15, sailing through a second reading vote 285-3 in the House of Commons.

Bill C-300: An Act Respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, now goes to committee for further study.

A national suicide prevention strategy was among the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care that the bill’s sponsor, Conservative MP Harold Albrecht, chaired with NDP MP Joe Comartin.

ANTIGONISH, N.S. - An Antigonish, N.S., priest who served as spokesman for the diocese in the wake of child pornography charges against then Bishop Raymond Lahey is under investigation by the addictions treatment centre where he has been executive director for the last 17 years.

Fr. Paul Abbass has stepped down from his duties at Talbot House just outside Sydney, N.S., and suspended his work as a parish priest and as episcopal vicar and director of pastoral services for the diocese of Antigonish.

TORONTO - As she takes over as executive director of KAIROS, Jennifer Henry’s priority is keeping the ecumenical social justice organization close to its roots in Canada’s churches.

“My commitment is to preserve the ecumenical character of this organization and I think that’s also the commitment of people around the board table,” Henry told The Catholic Register.