NEWS

Ottawa - Religious Canadians and religious institutions have a massive impact — upwards of $67 billion — on Canada’s economy, according to a new economic impact study.

Ottawa - A new petition inspired by a similar effort in 1975 that rallied the support of more than one million Canadians is calling on the federal government to grant full legal protection to unborn children.

VATICAN CITY - Repeating a call first made by St. Paul VI, Pope Francis urged a global move to divert money from national military spending and use it to "definitely defeat hunger."

EDMONTON, Alberta - The largest single outbreak of COVID-19 in North America may be one of the biggest lessons in the Catholic social principles of sacrifice, the value of work, care for the common good, and solidarity.

It’s nice that Canada is going to look into how Canadian-made targeting systems are being used by the Turkish and Azerbaijani military, both engaged in active wars, before allowing any more sales or exports of the systems. But Ottawa will have to do more if it intends to live up to its signature on the international Arms Trade Treaty and international human rights law in general, according to a researcher at Project Ploughshares.

VATICAN CITY - As the world's attention is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and its dire economic consequences, the Vatican urged nations not to forget the people of Syria, who are still living in a situation of violence and extreme need.

Entering their 170th year of caring for the people of Toronto, the Sisters of St. Joseph want to celebrate their history, of course. But celebrating that ministry has to be about much more than history, said the Sisters of St. Joseph communications director Lisa Tabachnick.

UNITED NATIONS - Protecting "our common home for present and future generations is one of the most urgent demands of our time," Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, said Oct. 13.

Religious leaders across Canada have expressed their concern and opposition with the recently reintroduced Bill C-7 which would expand access to medically assisted dying.

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has asked Pope Francis to apologize for the church's role in the conquest of the Americas. It's the second time he has made such a request of the Pope in less than two years.