NEWS

{mosimage}TORONTO - Despite another horrendous humanitarian crisis in Congo — 250,000 made homeless by renewed fighting in a war that has killed at least six million since 1996 — the Congolese don't want or need more aid money from Canadians, said a Congolese-Canadian who has for years lobbied Canadian governments to intervene on behalf of peace and demanded that Canadian mining companies cease operation in zones of conflict.

"They don't need material things. They need you to be there for them," said Erik Mukandila, a doctoral student studying immigration at the University of Toronto.

{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI condemned the wave of terrorist attacks in India as acts of "cruel and senseless violence," and led prayers for the nearly 200 people who died and the hundreds injured in the bloodshed.

A Vatican spokesman, meanwhile, warned that if extremists continue to exploit the ethnic and religious tensions of southern Asia the results could be even more tragic.

{mosimage}TORONTO - As St. John’s Catholic church in the Beaches celebrates its 100th anniversary, it is also rediscovering its youth.

Where the parish’s Sunday morning catechesis used to see 10-15 children, lifelong parishioner Deacon Gerry Godsoe said there are now more than 45. But as it moves forward in its reinvigorated state, the parish’s dynamic history is not forgotten.

OTTAWA - An independent consultant has recommended Parliament repeal the hate crimes section of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

“The use of censorship should be confined to a narrow category of extreme expression — that which threatens or justifies violence against the members of an identifiable group, even if the violence that is supported or threatened is not imminent,” wrote University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon in a $50,000 report the Canadian Human Rights Commission commissioned five months ago.

{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said the current market crisis calls for a new international agreement to effectively monitor global financial operations and give poorer countries a greater voice in economic policies.

In particular, steps are needed to curb the abuses of offshore financial institutions, which many see as one of the causes of the financial meltdown, said a statement drafted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

{mosimage}OTTAWA - A coalition of anti-poverty groups joined MPs from the opposition parties Nov. 21 in demanding a comprehensive national child poverty strategy.

At a Parliament Hill news conference, Campaign 2000 released its annual report card, showing 760,000 Canadian children — one out of nine — live below the poverty line. The report card coincided with ongoing debate on the Speech from the Throne where the minority Conservative government laid out its agenda for the 40th Parliament.

{mosimage}KINSHASA, Congo - A group of Congolese bishops has denounced the international community’s tolerance of increasing hostilities in eastern Congo, which they called a “silent genocide” against the civilian population there.

“We are calling on the international community to work sincerely to ensure respect for international law,” said the Congolese bishops’ committee in a statement Nov. 13 on the war in the east and northeast of Congo.

{mosimage}JERUSALEM - As Christmas approaches and the world again turns its hopes and prayers toward Bethlehem, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem is asking politicians to make peace a reality in the Holy Land.

Patriarch Fouad Twal told Canadian Catholic journalists visiting Jerusalem that a Saudi Arabian peace proposal would make a good basis for future peace in the region.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Male survivors of sexual abuse will be able to receive counselling from the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness (CCAA) thanks in part to the archdiocese of Toronto.

The archdiocese donated $30,000 to the CCAA, based in Newmarket, for its Help and Hope Project which focuses on helping men who were sexually victimized in their childhood.

{mosimage}TORONTO - In the opening credits of The Simpsons — where Lisa goes off with her saxophone, playing a tune of her own — is not what Catholic lay movements should model in their attempts to effect change, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins told nearly 200 people attending the archdiocese’s annual Catholic Symposium for the Laity.

“That’s the very world we’re fighting against — where ‘I have my little tune to play and so forget about you,’ ” he said.