NEWS

VATICAN CITY - Hundreds of people have been giving public witness to the ways Pope John Paul II changed or even saved their lives.

Men and women of all ages and nationalities have sent personal stories to www.karol-wojtyla.org, a web site run by the diocese of Rome dedicated to the late pope's beatification and canonization. As of April 28, the multilingual site published more than 400 testimonies from people sharing the ways they feel Pope John Paul interceded on their behalf or brought them back to the Church.

Many are notes of thanks for prayers answered, such as a risky surgery gone well or troubles in the family resolved. Others are personal accounts of meeting or seeing the pope during one of his many trips abroad and the feeling of being in the presence of a holy and charismatic man. Others were influenced by the way Pope John Paul reached out to people in every walk of life.

One woman wrote that she was driven to prostitution to support her family and had lost her faith in God. "I ask for pardon ... in a moment of anger, I tore your picture to pieces," she wrote.

Archdiocese of Toronto Blog. Their team have set up a special webpage, archtoronto.org/jp2, to celebrate the beatification of Pope John Paul II. You can also follow proceedings on their facebook and twitter accounts.

Up for 24 hours + can be an interesting feeling. Not getting much sleep on a flight across the ocean is nothing new. So when you arrive in Rome at 7:30 a.m. you have two options: a) sleep and stay on a very strange body rhythm schedule or b) acclimatize as best you can and try to adjust to the new timeline as soon as possible.

So Emanuel and I chose the latter road to travel today. We picked up our media accreditation which will provide us with some excellent access to various sites throughout the next several days. The traditional Vatican Press Office has been expanded to include a Temporary Accreditation Centre, regular home to the Pontifical Council of Social Communications to accommodate the thousands of communicators expected to descend on Rome.

The weather Thursday in Rome was beautiful, about 20 degrees celsius, a little cloudy and breezy but the sun crept throughout most of the day.

Walking through St. Peter's Square it's evident that plans are in full swing to prepare for the weekend events with everything from portable toilets to security barricades and other prep underway. Estimates at this point are that at least 1 million people will be making the trek but hard to know what final numbers will look like.

Stepping back, at any given time, if you're to peruse the crowds, many in national colours, you'd see a Canadian, German & Polish pilgrim walking side by side, hand in hand or even singing together as they all come together for this most joyful occasion.

Public transit is the way to go here so we managed a few subway rides - interesting to note that to accommodate the massive crowds, subways will run from 5:00 a.m. - 1:30 a.m. Saturday and 4:00 a.m. - 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. All that said, you can expect that some stations may experience temporary closures, as they did in the Jubilee year for World Youth Day 2000 when it just wasn't safe to allow any more pilgrims into the subway.

I can still recall leaving the final mass at WYD Rome at about 11:00 a.m. and making my way back to our meeting point at the end of the subway line about 7:00 p.m. In between, there was a walk of about 20 km, 5 subways stops closed and 40 degree heat. Ah yes, pilgrimage at its best. Why do I get the feeling we may be prepping for the sequel?


We also had the chance to connect with Archbishop Collins along with his M.C. Fr. Ed Curtis for a rooftop interview that will likely remain an exclusive - trust me when I say there was some great lines but remember that part about technical difficulties? Well let's just say that we'd prefer that you be able to understand the wisdom of His Grace and not be fighting the mighty wind that was present on the rooftop - we'll try for a retake at some point in the next few days.

As for media coverage at this point, we've got strong interest from the Toronto Star, 680 News, CBC and a few others that we're working on, both from Rome and the home office in Toronto. Suffice it to say, most folks back in Canada will likely enter Royal Wedding mode Friday but we'll be stopping by the Canadian College to visit with some of our Toronto priests, attend a Vatican press conference and work on some more proactive media opportunities.

So it's just about time to work on a little sleep given that this has been one of the longer work days of the year. After dinner with pilgrims from Windsor, Bradford and Etobicoke, one might say that we're off to a great start.

In short to recap, Rome is well on the way to setting the table for a million friends to come for a visit...first come, first served. Should make for quite a line for this buffet of faith!

Follow the latest updates over the weekend at www.archtoronto.org/jp2/

TORONTO - A Toronto Right to Life campaign has taken to the subway system to promote adoption as a life-affirming alternative to abortion.

The ads began running April 18 and will continue til May 15.

“I wanted my baby to have a Dad and Mom,” reads the ad from a birth mother. The ad features the silhouette of a family.

“The purpose of the ad is to raise awareness and understanding about infant adoption,” said Toronto Right to Life in a statement. “All of this can help women make an informed, pressure-free decision about adoption as a life-affirming choice.”

The ad also features the AdoptioninCanada.ca web site that contains information about open adoption, testimonials from women who chose to place their children for adoption and pregnancy assistance organizations.

TORONTO - All the money that Rose of Sharon sees through the generosity of donors to ShareLife goes a long way in supporting young mothers and their children in York Region, said executive director Anna Pavan.

“We provide services to pre-natal and parenting teens,” Pavan, the executive director of the not-for-profit charitable organization, told The Catholic Register. “So it’s allowing us to have five counsellors, to be able to provide parenting programs to our young mothers and a child development centre where babies are cared for while the mothers are attending school or parenting programs.”

Rose of Sharon is one of the more than 30 agencies supported by ShareLife, the charitable fundraising arm of the archdiocese of Toronto.

As part of its parish campaign — with a goal of $12.3 million this year — the first ShareLife Sunday took place on April 3. The reported results added up to $4.16 million, an increase of about 10 per cent over the same reporting time last year, according to Bill Steinburg, communications manager at ShareLife.

TORONTO - For Canada’s Ethiopian Orthodox community there can be no better symbol of faith in the Risen Christ this Eastertide than watching the rise of its new cathedral in west-end Toronto.

Decades in the making, the magnificent structure has begun to soar majestically above an industrial-commercial neighbourhood northwest of Eglinton Avenue West and Dufferin Street. The completion of each new stage of the cathedral is cause for many hundreds of faithful hearts to beat with growing pride and anticipation.

Since 1984, the congregation of St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has dreamed of building a cathedral to house its growing numbers. They have been worshipping in a converted factory. All that prevents a visitor from driving right past it is a small sign in front of the building and a modest cross above it.

Fr. Harry J. Gensler is a Golden Rule junkie.

In fact, the Jesuit priest and professor of philosophy at John Carroll University in Cleveland wrote both an MA thesis and PhD dissertation on the Golden Rule. He’s also published 12 books on ethics and logic —  most involving the Golden Rule.

And on May 11, he’ll be sharing his knowledge on the Golden Rule in a lecture at Scarboro Missions. He’ll be discussing how to use it wisely and avoid fallacies.

For more information, call (416) 261-7135 ext. 296 or e-mail interfaith@scarboromissions.ca.

TORONTO - Ontario’s bishops and school trustees are encouraging Catholic high schools to enhance existing anti-bullying policies by establishing support groups for students being bullied due to sexual orientation.

Under the direction of the bishops and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association, a committee will be formed to draft a framework for how such groups would operate within the teachings of the Church. The committee, to  include a bishop, students, parents, trustees, clergy and other educators, will work with the Institute for Catholic Education to have a policy prepared by September.

In a memorandum addressed to Catholic educators, the bishops and trustees acknowledged that recently there has been “much discussion” about this issue. That public discussion, which included news reports about Catholic school boards opposing so-called gay-straight alliance clubs, led to a decision to enhance the broad anti-bullying protocols that have been in place for almost a decade. The expanded framework to deal with bullying due to sexual orientation will be available to any Ontario Catholic board that wishes to implement it.

Nancy Kirby, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association, emphasized that the proposed groups are not gay-straight alliances (GSA), which are prominent across North America. GSAs deal with lifestyle issues. The enhanced Catholic framework, which builds on existing anti-bullying protocols, will deal exclusively with the issue of bullying and complement the existing teaching that “bullying is wrong under any circumstances, at any age.”

“After speaking to our students, the supports that we do have in place, some students who are of same-sex orientation feel they are not adequate for the support they require,” Kirby said.

“Compassion, care and service to the most vulnerable in our communities are vital and important tenets of our Catholic faith,” said the April 15 memo prepared by the bishops and trustees. “We are not aware of an increase in harassment of this type, but any type of bullying or harassment in Catholic schools will not be tolerated.”

A committee, to be chaired by an Ontario bishop, will convene this month to develop a province-wide policy for Catholic schools. Kirby said topics on dating, marriage and relationships could be discussed in the support groups but “everything would be based on our faith, with that perspective in mind.”

The new framework is “requesting (all) boards to implement this when it comes forward,” Kirby said, but it will not be mandatory for schools.

Although the committee will be convened to examine one specific type of bullying, its work will be based on existing policies that strive to ensure all students are educated in a safe and caring environment that does not tolerate any type of bullying or harassment.  To that end, in addition to addressing bullying due to sexual orientation, the committee will “collect and share the best resources and practices” from across the province to combat all forms of bullying so as to ensure that Catholic schools “are places of welcome according to the Gospel.”

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s promise to fight religious persecution abroad has won applause from religious freedom advocates, but some would like to see more attention paid to religious freedom on the home front.

In Mississauga April 23, Harper told a diverse crowd that included many who came to Canada after fleeing religious persecution that he would establish an Office of Religious Freedom to ensure the defence of persecuted religious minorities remained a priority of foreign policy.

“While we are thankful in a country that spares us such tests, we must not let our comfort be an excuse to shirk our commitment to the cause of freedom,” he said.

Harper praised the memory of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Roman Catholic Pakistani minister of religious minorities who was assassinated March 2 for his defence of Christians unfairly targeted by that country’s blasphemy law. 

“This is very good for the religious minorities of Pakistan and around the world,” said Peter Bhatti, the founder of International Christian Voice and older brother of the slain Pakistani minister. “This office will highlight and monitor the situation of what is happening to religious minorities.” 

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff also supports taking on religious persecution on foreign shores.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. - At a time when many Canadian parishes are facing shrinking resources, St. Michael the Archangel in Belleville has opened a new parish centre that is quickly becoming a busy pastoral and social hub for a lively and engaged congregation.

“Belleville has a reputation as a strong Roman Catholic community although we are only about 20 per cent of the city’s total population,” said Fr. Richard Whalen, pastor of St. Michael’s.

Certainly the opening of a new parish centre speaks to the vibrant spiritual life of Belleville. This southeastern Ontario city already had busy church halls at the parishes of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary and St. Joseph and, when available, schools also offered space to assist St. Michael’s. But demand kept growing in the downtown parish, the oldest in Belleville.

“St. Michael’s is in one of the more established neighbourhoods of the city. It has strong Irish Catholic and French Canadian roots,” said Whalen of the parish founded in 1829. “That included many rural residents who have now moved into town and retained that strong tradition.

VATICAN CITY - The city of Rome launched beefed-up security measures in the days before the May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II. Officers were even brushing up on their English to better help the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected for the event.

More security personnel and tighter passenger and baggage controls were put into effect starting April 25 for area airports, seaports and train stations.

Italian authorities said there would be random bag searches and ID checks at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport, Civitavecchia seaport and Termini train station in Rome.

People with criminal records and those who would be "potentially dangerous for tourists" were to be "moved away from" the area in and around Termini train station, reported the Italian daily, La Repubblica, April 24.