NEWS

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Winnipeg Archbishop James Weisgerber has returned from his first trip to the Holy Land with a deep understanding of the pressure and suffering the historic Christian community experiences there.

{mosimage}Christian Child Care International, a community development program based in Springhill, N.S., has changed its name to Chalice.

“By changing our name to Chalice, we are reducing the confusion and making ourselves easy to remember,” said Mark Warren, director of marketing.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - New forcefully worded orientations to guide Catholic dioceses in updating their sexual abuse protocols stop short of being binding on the bishops.

{mosimage}TORONTO - In the past decade the archdiocese of Toronto has opened 13 parishes and closed none. This is at a time when across Canada, and particularly in Quebec, parishes are closing or amalgamating.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The new chairman of the board for Canada’s largest, Christian and ecumenical social justice organization is a veteran of Third World development work from the Anglican communion.

{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has decided to reformulate a Good Friday prayer in the 1962 Latin Roman Missal that was offensive to Jews, according to an Italian newspaper.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Jesuit Father Jack Costello isn’t the sort to yell “Come and get me, Copper” a la James Cagney. At the same time, he isn’t about to quit aiding and abetting refugees who want to come into Canada.

{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - It was a first, at least in modern times: In Rome, the centre of the Catholic world and the capital of Catholic Italy, a pope felt unwelcome to give a speech at the public university.

When Pope Benedict XVI cancelled his planned visit to La Sapienza University Jan. 17, it marked a setback in the pontiff’s difficult dialogue with the contemporary scientific and intellectual world.

{mosimage}ROME - Spanish-born Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, the newly elected superior general of the Jesuits, called on the more than 19,000 members of his order to strengthen their service to the poor and those excluded from the benefits of economic globalization.

{mosimage}Pope Benedict XVI won't be coming to Canada this summer to help Quebec City stage the 49th International Eucharistic Congress and mark the city's 400th anniversary.