News/Canada

OTTAWA - Religion and politics have often been associated with the so-called religious right, but now a group of New Democrat MPs and party members want to revive the religious left. To that end, they have established a Faith and Justice Caucus.

Joliette Bishop Gilles Lussier has said that by deciding to run for political office, one of his priests has given up his right to perform any sacramental ministry.

Fr. Raymond Gravel's decision to become a candidate for the Bloc Quebecois in a federal byelection is a "painful situation for the church," Lussier said in a press release issued Oct. 31.

CORNWALL, Ont. - The primate of the Catholic Church in Canada has released the foundational theological document for the 2008 Eucharistic Congress, saying its “message brings as a main concern the memory of our Christian roots.”

WINDSOR, Ont.  - Former Reform Party and federal Opposition Leader Preston Manning says people of faith need, as Jesus said, to be as “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” in bringing religious perspectives to the political arena.

CORNWALL, Ont. - Clerical sexual abuse remained a hot topic for Canada’s Catholic bishops as they gathered for their annual plenary in Cornwall Oct. 16-21.

TORONTO - Canada can and should use its military to ensure the safety of civilian refugees in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region before a Dec. 31 deadline could see African peacekeepers removed from the area, according to Canada’s largest churches.

TRURO, N.S. - Nova Scotians now have the option to shop on Sundays as of Thanksgiving weekend.

OTTAWA - At a ceremony at Rideau Hall Oct. 6, Sr. Susan Moran became a Member of the Order of Canada for her work among the homeless and disenfranchised in the Toronto area.

“I’m here because of all the beautiful, suffering people who are now my sisters and brothers,” Moran said in an interview following the ceremony. “It is through them that I’ve learned such love and compassion.” 

VATICAN CITY - When individuals lose sight of their own sinfulness, it is impossible to promote real reconciliation and establish true justice in society, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Western Canada.

TORONTO - The federal government is planning to introduce a Defence of Religions Act to protect from legal harassment those who challenge same-sex marriage or refuse to participate in such ceremonies.

The Globe and Mail reported Oct. 4 that the federal Justice Minister Vic Toews is preparing such legislation in case the House of Commons rejects a motion to reopen the debate over the legal definition of marriage.