{mosimage}A Catholic high school in which every student has lost at least one parent to AIDS has turned the sod on a new permanent home on the edge of Africa’s second largest slum.

{mosimage}AJAX, Ont. - Candace Chapman's Olympic journey to Beijing began on a soccer field in Ajax when she was just eight years old. She is one of 57 athletes from the Greater Toronto Area at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.

Her parents Gerard and Margaret say they're proud of their daughter's accomplishments. Aside from being part of the first Canadian women's soccer team to qualify for the Olympics, Chapman played on the Canadian team at last year's FIFA Women's World Cup in China and helped Notre Dame University win an NCAA title while attending the university on a scholarship. The 25-year-old defender and mid-fielder has earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and computer applications at Notre Dame.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Peter Cmorej, just three years removed from his Slovakian homeland, achieved the highest marks of any student graduating from a Toronto Catholic high school this year. 

{mosimage}Editor’s note: The following is the complete text of Pope Benedict XVI’s speech to American Catholic educators in Washington, DC, on April 17.

“How beautiful are the footsteps of those who bring good news” (Rom 10:15-17). With these words of Isaiah quoted by St. Paul, I warmly greet each of you — bearers of wisdom — and through you the staff, students and families of the many and varied institutions of learning that you represent. It is my great pleasure to meet you and to share with you some thoughts regarding the nature and identity of Catholic education today.

Dear Readers,

{mosimage}Among Pope Benedict’s many thought-provoking speeches during his spring visit to the United States was a particularly important one on Catholic education. Though it received some coverage, the Pope’s insights into the role of Catholic schools were too often lost among the attention given to the most visual and spectacular aspects of his visit.

TORONTO - A new world religions textbook being prepared for Ontario high schools will offer a distinctly Canadian and Roman Catholic perspective on different faiths, according to one of its authors.

The textbook, with the working title World Religions: A Canadian Catholic Perspective, will be the first of its kind specifically geared towards Grade 11 world religion students in Catholic schools.

TORONTO - The first concurrent program to prepare religion teachers for Ontario Catholic high schools will be launched this fall.

The program is in response to the lack of qualified high school religion teachers currently working in Catholic schools.

TORONTO - Amid vocal community opposition, a controversial $2.7-million community centre at Etobicoke’s Father John Redmond Catholic High School is set to begin construction this fall.

Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Ann Andrachuk said the agreement between the City of Toronto and the board to complete the Ken Cox Community Centre is “moving forward.”

{mosimage}TORONTO - It’s touted as the first “national conversation” on Catholic education in Canada.

The Catholic Education: A National Conversation conference is expected to draw 400 parents, students, teachers, school administrators, clergy and trustees to Ottawa Sept. 26-27 for the inaugural conference.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Declining student enrolment will be a key issue this coming school year for Ontario Catholic school boards, says the president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association.

“There are quite frankly less children and I think, with the exception of four or five boards experiencing some growth, the rest are in declining mode,” Paula Peroni told The Catholic Register.