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NEWS

{mosimage}TORONTO - With more than 1,700 tickets sold and 400 high school students expected to attend, this year’s Ordinandi Dinner will be the biggest in its 19-year history.

Among the 1,700 guests for the March 2 dinner will be Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, several priests and hundreds of Catholics from across the archdiocese.

Radio Ville-Marie needs $100,000 to get on air in Gatineau

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{mosimage}A new Christian radio station in the Ottawa-Gatineau region could be on the airwaves some time this year, as long as the $100,000 price tag for broadcasting doesn’t stand in the way.

On Sept. 23, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a request for the archdiocese of Gatineau to broadcast French language programming from Radio Ville-Marie , a station based in Montreal.

Irish bishops must face abuse fallout

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{mosimage}VATICAN CITY  - Pope Benedict XVI said priestly sexual abuse was a “heinous crime” and a grave sin, and he urged Irish bishops to act courageously to repair their failures to deal properly with such cases.

At the end of a two-day Vatican summit on the sex abuse scandal in Ireland, the Vatican said in a statement Feb. 16 that “errors of judgment and omissions” were at the heart of the crisis. It said church leaders recognized the sense of “pain and anger, betrayal, scandal and shame” that those errors have provoked among many Irish Catholics.

Former military chaplain faces sexual assault charges

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{mosimage}OTTAWA - A former military Chaplain General, a Roman Catholic, has been charged with sexual assault following alleged incidents 38 years ago at Canadian Forces Base Borden.

Military investigators confirmed the charge on Feb. 16. The current Chaplain General, Brigadier-General David Kettle, issued a statement in which he said his office is co-operating fully in an investigation by the Military Police and the Roman Catholic Military Ordinariate of Canada.

Church leaders, pro-life MPs call Ignatieff's call for abortion ‘pathetic’

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{mosimage}TORONTO - It is “astonishing” and “pathetic” that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is advocating that Canada fund overseas abortions as part of a strategy to improve health care for women and children, said Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Calgary Bishop Fred Henry.

The bishops were responding to statements made by the opposition leader after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada, as president of the G8, would champion an international initiative to bring basic health care to mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries. Ignatieff declared his party would only support the initiative if Harper’s measures included provisions for abortion and contraception.

A Valentine's spiritual reflection

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Valentine’s Day meets with spirituality through a special dinner some parishes have adopted to help couples strengthen their relationship and rekindle romances.

Table for Two surfaced for the first time at St. Patrick’s parish in Toronto this year, hosted by the Redemptorists. It is modelled on a similar event at a Redemptorist parish in Winnipeg.

Sisters continue prayers for Haiti

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{mosimage}TORONTO - A religious sister who survived the January earthquake in Haiti reflected on her experience at a prayer vigil in Nathan Phillips Square Feb. 9.

“When you pray ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ think of the Haitians,” said Sr. Mary Alban, CSJ.

Spiritually starved heard at The Listening Post

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{mosimage}TORONTO - In prayer and silence, the brains behind Toronto’s Listening Post patiently await visitors to their unique ministry at Danforth and Broadview three times a week. 

Deacon Robert Kinghorn and Eusebia da Silva, both experienced in spiritual direction, have opened a space for the city’s spiritually starved to sit in silence or find a listening ear to their problems.

Haitian relief total climbs

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Canadians have raised $113 million for Haitian relief following that nation’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, a significant chunk of that coming from Catholics.

Beverley Oda, Minister of International Co-operation, announced Feb. 8 that $113 million in “eligible donations” had been raised by Canadians and would be matched by the government as promised with the creation of the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund Jan. 14.

Saints win a sign of hope for New Orleans

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{mosimage}NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond said the New Orleans Saints’ win in Super Bowl XLIV was “not just a football victory.”

“I think it’s another sign of hope in that our rebuilding is not just a possibility — it’s a reality,” the New Orleans native said after the underdog Saints, playing in their first Super Bowl, won in a 31-17 comeback over the Indianapolis Colts.

Vancouver church is ready for the world

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{mosimage}As February dawned the Games were already on for British Columbia Catholics getting ready to welcome Olympic athletes, media and fans for the XXI Winter Games.

“I was in the athletes’ village this morning, just making sure everything is set up for Mass tomorrow morning,” Msgr. Jerry Desmond told The Catholic Register  just days before the opening ceremonies.