NEWS

TORONTO - Everybody who graduated from Grade 9 biology knows governments can’t make babies. But in the wake of 2006 census numbers which show Canadians failing to replace themselves, some people think the government should help the process along.

TORONTO - An attack on a Jewish community centre in midtown Toronto is part of a continuing pattern that needs to be addressed, said Fr. Damian MacPherson, the archdiocese of Toronto’s interfaith and ecumenical affairs officer.

TORONTO - Ten Catholics For Peace were among a couple thousand protesters who marked the fourth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq with a St. Patrick’s Day rally across the street from the U.S. consulate and a march through downtown Toronto converging on the Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square.

TORONTO - A charity established by 12-year-old Catholic school children a dozen years ago has landed a $1.2-million grant from the Canadian founder of eBay, who as a student pumped gas in the neighbourhood.

TORONTO - From Anglican to Zoroastrian, 45 faith communities came together to put the stamp of faith on Toronto’s immense diversity at the inaugural breakfast meeting of the Toronto Area Interfaith Council March 20.

WASHINGTON - In a sharply worded letter to his religious superior, Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino said that a Vatican document criticizing his work is an effort “to put an end to the theology of liberation.”

OTTAWA - A pair of Catholics have made the grade as Canada’s governor general has announced 87 new appointments to the Order of Canada.

TORONTO - Leaders of Catholic lay movements in the archdiocese of Toronto will attend an annual symposium March 24.

TORONTO - The claim by a Toronto filmmaker that he had found the true burial site of Jesus of Nazareth — along with Jesus’ wife and child — began to sink under withering criticism almost as soon as he revealed his new film Feb. 26.

TORONTO - Rape as a weapon of war, rape in the form of the globalized sex trade, rape among school children, rape as the means of transmitting HIV, rape inside marriage — former United Nations special ambassador Stephen Lewis urged Catholic teachers to think about how rape is defining the world we live in and the future we face.