NEWS

CAIRO - Orthodox Pope Shenouda III declared three days of mourning, fasting and prayer for victims of peaceful protests that turned violent, and church and government leaders called for Egypt to reaffirm its commitment to religious freedom.

At least 26 people -- mostly Christian -- were killed and nearly 500 were injured Oct. 9 as gangs armed with firebombs, sticks, swords and rocks attacked about 1,000 people staging a peaceful sit-in outside of a state television building. As the violence escalated, a speeding military vehicle mounted a sidewalk and rammed into a group of protesters, killing a number of them.

Witnesses lined up early this morning at the State Deptartment to offer their views on a $7 billion pipeline project designed to carry up to 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

On one side were representatives of the energy industry who say the project would produce thousands of construction jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East oil. The other included religious and environmental groups concerned that extracting oil in Canada’s northern boreal forest will accelerate climate change and harm the livelihood of First Nations people.

The project has raised sensitivities in both the U.S. and Canada as debates have revolved around the benefits of economic development and  jobs in a deep recession and the long-term impact on climate change.

OTTAWA - Fr. Robert Bedard, founder of the Companions of the Cross, a society of apostolic life in the Catholic Church, died on Oct. 6. He was 82.

Fr. Bedard was born and raised in Ottawa and ordained a priest at Blessed Sacrament Church in Ottawa on June 6, 1955. For many years, he was a teacher at St. Pius X High School in Ottawa.

VATICAN CITY - By promoting dialogue and defending the rights of minorities, Catholics in Indonesia will contribute to the harmony of their nation and will be an example to people in other parts of the world, Pope Benedict XVI told the country's bishops.

"Continue to bear witness to the image and likeness of God in each man, woman and child, regardless of their faith, by encouraging everyone to be open to dialogue in the service of peace and harmony," the pope told the bishops Oct. 7.

The 36 bishops of Indonesia were making their "ad limina" visits to brief the pope and Vatican officials on what is happening in their dioceses. Catholics make up about 3 percent of the population in Indonesia; Muslims account for more than 85 percent of the population, and there are significant communities of Protestants, Hindus and Buddhists.

VATICAN CITY - Like Pope Pius XI, who founded Vatican Radio and built the Vatican train station, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs recognized the importance of expanding communication, a Jesuit told Vatican Radio.

Jobs, 56, died Oct. 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Father Antonio Spadaro, the new editor of the influential Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica, told Vatican Radio that Jobs made technology part of the lives of millions and millions of people, not just technicians.

TORONTO - Chef Anthony Rose was at St. Anthony’s Catholic School to show a Grade 1 class how to create a “lunchbox smorgasbord” of healthy foods. 

But first, the Drake Hotel chef had to define the word for his captive audience.

“Smorgasbord means a bit of everything,” Rose told about 20 students at a healthy eating session to shine the spotlight on the importance of student nutrition programs. The Oct. 5 initiative marked the City of Toronto’s Feeding Toronto’s Hungry Students Week which runs from Oct. 3 to 7.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Ministering in a city where crime is pervasive and murders occur at an alarming rate, Columban Father Kevin Mullins knows he's been very fortunate.

While he has personally escaped the violence, the Australian-born priest has been touched by it through the lives of his parishioners at Corpus Christi Church in the poor neighbourhood of Puerto de Anapra.

During Advent 2008, though, there was a time when parishioners and fellow priests were praying for his soul, thinking he had been killed during an attack by drug cartel gunmen.

OTTAWA - With more than 100 religious leaders in attendance on Oct. 3, the International Affairs Minister opened formal consultation on the creation of Canada’s first Office of Religious Freedoms.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the office, which was promised by the Tories in the last election, is intended to “promote and protect freedom of religion and belief, consistent with core Canadian values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

“Most importantly,” Baird said, “it will demonstrate that Canada truly is a free society.”

OTTAWA - Calgary Bishop Fred Henry has come out in support of a bill introduced by a Conservative MP that would strike the controversial Section 13 from the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Henry, who faced human rights complaints in 2005 for writing a pastoral letter defending traditional marriage, said Section 13 and its provincial counterparts “need to either be eliminated or subjected to an extensive re-write.”

Section 13 deems discriminatory any action “likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt” if they are “identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.”

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican newspaper said it was "historically senseless hypocrisy" for the BBC to drop the dating abbreviations BC and AD on the grounds that they might offend non-Christians.

In a front-page commentary Oct. 4, L'Osservatore Romano said the change reflected a wider effort to "cancel every trace of Christianity from Western culture."

The British media corporation recently announced it would replace BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, or Year of the Lord) with B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era.) It said the new terms were a "religiously neutral" alternative.