NEWS

Michael Del Grande captured the chair’s seat for the Toronto Catholic District School Board by the luck of the draw.

CANTERBURY, England - In a lengthy interview in The Times of London, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby predicted that the Anglican Communion might not hold together because of strong disagreements on the ordination of women as bishops and full rights for LGBT people.

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the U.S bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace said acts of torture outlined in a Senate Intelligence Committee report "violated the God-given human dignity inherent in all people and were unequivocally wrong."

To help set the agenda for the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family, the Vatican is sending the world's Catholic bishops' conferences a list of questions on a range of topics, including matters of marriage and sexuality that proved especially controversial at the 2014 family Synod.

MANILA, Philippines - Initial assessments by Catholic emergency responders showed significant damage to coastal areas of an island province in the east-central Philippines, where a powerful typhoon first made landfall Dec. 5, but Church officials said in some parts, chapels that were used as shelters held their own.

The Rose of Durham continues to bloom in new and different ways. What began in 1988 with parish-based pro-life activism to help young mothers through crisis pregnancies and the hardship of single motherhood is becoming a professional resource ready to help young mothers up to the age of 25.

Members of Right to Life New Brunswick are demanding a vote in the provincial legislature on the Liberal government’s plans to make it easier to procure an abortion in the province.

MANILA, Philippines - Tropical Storm Hagupit dumped heavy rain as it slunk its way to the Manila area Dec. 8, after passing across the northern half of the central Philippines at typhoon strength.

ROME - In the heart of Rome's high-end shopping district, sparkling with Christmas lights and shiny baubles in the windows of famous designers, Pope Francis prayed that people would spend time in silence and in service as they prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth.

MANCHESTER, England - Young Africans are being seduced into modern slavery by the promise of a dream that never comes true, an English cardinal told a conference on human trafficking.