NEWS

{mosimage}CORNWALL, Ont. - The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops raised concerns about the war in Afghanistan and the Canadian government’s not making clear the goals of the mission there in his annual report to the bishops’ plenary here.

“If these goals are not articulated, it is difficult to determine bench marks, and almost impossible to evaluate successes and failures,” said Archbishop James Weisgerber.

{mosimage}JERUSALEM - The Vatican invitation to participate in the upcoming world Synod of Bishops on the Bible is a “signal of hope,” said Israeli Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, who will lead a one-day discussion on the Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures.

Cohen, co-chairman of the Israeli-Vatican dialogue commission and chief rabbi of Haifa, is the first non-Christian ever invited to address the world Synod of Bishops. He will speak the second day of the Oct. 5-26 synod at the Vatican.

{mosimage}CORNWALL, Ont. - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine made an historic plea for reconciliation with the Catholic Church while speaking to a gathering of Catholic bishops here Sept. 22.

“What I want to talk about here is the future,” Fontaine told about 80 bishops attending the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual plenary.

Tough-on-crime election promises released this week by the Conservative Party don't much impress the Church Council on Justice and Corrections.

The Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition isn't shy about criticizing the federal Conservatives while the election is on. In an editorial in it's September newsletter the Ontario coalition of faith communities takes the Conservatives to task.

Religion and politics are constant bedfellows, so it's no surprise that Catholics aren't the only ones weighing in on this election. Among the religious voices raised in the early going of the short, six-week campaign, Muslims and Jews each have their concerns.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Cardinal Francis George had never studied French before attending Saint Paul University as an Oblate scholastic 40 years ago, but he found the language necessary “if you wanted to eat,” he joked at a banquet Sept. 19 at the bilingual university.

{mosimage}TORONTO  - Close to 500 people are expected at an upcoming international pro-life conference in Toronto.

The conference, entitled “Creating a Culture of Life Around the Globe,” will run from Oct. 2 to 4 and is sponsored by Campaign Life Coalition .

{mosimage}LOURDES, France - Being Pope is not a one-dimensional job, a fact that was clearly evident during Pope Benedict XVI’s four-day visit to France.

Arriving in Paris Sept. 12, the Pope first engaged in an important political encounter that attempted to build on the new openness shown the church by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Two of Ottawa’s best known religious leaders have issued a joint declaration challenging a move to force Ontario’s physicians to set aside their own conscience and religious beliefs when they conflict with a patient’s request.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., and Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka said Sept. 11 that they are “deeply disturbed” by a new policy being considered by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. This policy could require doctors to perform abortions or other types of treatments even if they contradict their own beliefs.