NEWS

TORONTO - No sooner had David Okenyi arrived in Canada than he wished he could just turn on his heel and go back to Nigeria.

TORONTO - Poverty kills just as surely as smoking or living off burgers, fries and ice cream, and the church leaders who run Ontario's food banks, emergency shelters and family counselling programs are prepared to back that claim up with science.

TORONTO - More than 100 priests, deacons and seminarians of the archdiocese of Toronto attended a luncheon Nov. 15 at St. Paul's Basilica sponsored by the Campaign Life Coalition, the political wing of the pro-life movement in Canada. 

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - In a time of mourning the students at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School rallied together to support each other and to remember a friend. 

The companies that sell ethically screened mutual funds are asking Parliament to clean up the Clean Air Act.

TORONTO - When Our Lady of Lourdes parish marks World AIDS Day Dec. 1, those who have gathered for the monthly healing Mass the past 16 years will remember the ones who have died and their families and friends, not forgetting those who still depend on a handful of pills every day to keep the human immunodeficiency virus at bay.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials, meeting to review the status of married priests, reaffirmed the value of priestly celibacy and said its importance should be highlighted among priests and seminarians.

TORONTO - A cardinal in Honduras has asked the Canadian government to rein in Canadian mining companies operating in his country.

TORONTO - The United Church of Canada has launched a $10.5-million media campaign that will span the next three years. It will consist of an interactive web site, national magazine, newspaper advertising featuring a cheeky bobble-head Jesus and other provocative images, and a grassroots campaign all aimed at engaging Canadians, specifically those age 30-45.

VATICAN CITY  - Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on Islam in Regensburg, Germany, opened a new chapter in the Vatican's 40-year dialogue with the Muslim world and brought the Pope's own views on Islam into clearer focus.