NEWS

OTTAWA - The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) says a recent call by Canadian obstetricians and gynecologists for all women to be offered prenatal genetic screening is a “disturbing step toward eugenics in our society.”

ROME - South Korea’s leading Catholic churchman welcomed the news that North Korea had agreed to wind down its nuclear program in exchange for fuel assistance from outside countries.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Judicial Council has dismissed REAL Women of Canada’s allegations of judicial misconduct against Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, whose 2003 Halpern decision determined the traditional definition of marriage discriminated against same-sex couples.

OTTAWA - A Kamloops, B.C., city councillor has agreed to pay a $1,000 settlement to a homosexual couple for public statements he made about homosexuality.

OTTAWA - The primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) Archbishop John Hepworth consecrated two   auxiliary bishops for the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) Jan. 27 at a ceremony in Ottawa.

TORONTO - The United States human rights record and its war on terror are on trial in a Federal Court in Toronto. The Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and an anonymous Colombian in a Nebraska jail are trying to persuade a judge to suspend Canadian co-operation with the United States on handling of refugees.

Since its founding as a diocese on Dec. 17, 1841, Toronto has had 12 chief shepherds. Below are short profiles of the 10 archbishops/bishops who preceded Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic. Much of this information was supplied by the Archives of the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Toronto - Just a couple of weeks after announcing his retirement as archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic confessed his love to a gathering of about 50 at Holy Blossom Temple.

The motto “Deum Adora” (Worship God) is taken from the Book of Revelation 22: 9. When St. John seeks to worship the angel who has shown him the great visions of the book, the angel rebukes him: “Worship God.” It is God who claims our adoration and loyalty, in worship and in action. St. Thomas More expressed this when in his last words before martyrdom he said: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” Our priorities in life must be clear and determined by our adoration of the Lord.

The shield with a gold cross on a red background is based on that of St. Peter’s Seminary. The Alpha and Omega recall the Book of Revelation 22:13, where Jesus says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” The open Bible and the chalice represent the two great ways in which we experience Jesus in the church, in word and sacrament.

Editor’s note: A few days before officially being installed as chief shepherd of Toronto, Archbishop Thomas Collins sat down with The Catholic Register to talk about what it means to be a bishop and how the local diocesan church relates to its many parts. Below are some excerpts from that interview.