VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is in line to control the new Internet address extension ".catholic" and decide who is allowed to use it.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit corporation that coordinates the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses around the world, announced the Vatican's formal application  June 13 in London.

VATICAN CITY - Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi confirmed that Paolo Gabriele, the pope's private assistant, was arrested after private Vatican documents were found in his possession in connection to the so-called "VatiLeaks" scandal that began in January.
Father Lombardi said Gabriele was arrested the evening of May 23 by Vatican police after they found the illegally obtained documents in his home, which is on Vatican territory. He was still under arrest as May 26, the day the Vatican statement was issued. The dark-haired assistant can often be seen with the pope sitting in the front seat of the popemobile, next to the driver during papal general audiences on Wednesdays.

This week's movie reviews feature the week's big release, the re-boot of the 1980s TV show 21 Jump Street, the new Eddie Murphy film and a look at Terence Davies' Deep Blue Sea.

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- At the entrance to St. Saviour Church, Aloysious Leone and women in traditional Indian dress gathered around Trivandrum Archbishop Mari Soosa Pakiam to ask his blessing and kiss his ring.

Leone, 36, a Catholic from southern India, was among about 150 Indian Catholics who braved rain and freezing temperatures to attend a Mass of thanksgiving with church leaders from their country at Jerusalem's St. Saviour Church.

"It is very special to have our cardinals and priests here and be able to attend a Mass with them," he said.

PHILADELPHIA - Lawyers for a Philadelphia archdiocesan priest failed Feb. 27 in their bid to have charges of child endangerment and conspiracy dismissed before the priest's case went to trial.

As a result, arguments are still set to begin March 26 in the trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, who had been an aide to recently deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who was Philadelphia's archbishop from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

Msgr. Lynn, 61, is accused of having failed to protect children from two priests who were under his direction when he served as secretary of the clergy for the archdiocese from 1992 to 2004. In that role, he was responsible for recommending the assignment of priests in the archdiocese.

TORONTO - In a matter of seconds, with the hands of Archbishop Thomas Collins placed on their heads, three men saw more than five years of preparation and discernment finally come to fruition as they were ordained to the priesthood.

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This year’s new priests were welcomed to the archdiocese of Toronto on May 14 at St. Michael’s Cathedral, in front of a congregation of about 1,000.

“The purpose of a priestly witness is to serve,” said Collins, who celebrated the ordination Mass.

The newly ordained priests are Eric Mah, a former lawyer, who was assigned to Blessed Trinity parish in North York; Russell Asch, born in Montreal and raised in England, who will serve at St. Patrick’s parish in Markham; and Allyn Rose, a former accountant, who will be associate pastor at St. Isaac Jogues in Pickering.

“If you ever sense you’re not worthy of the priesthood, you’re correct. None of us are,” said Collins to the ordinandi and a group of young men gathered before the Mass. “Jesus Christ is the only priest.”

The archbishop, as he has done for the past eight years, hosted a group of young men for breakfast before the ordination, where he explained the ceremony’s procedures and the nature of the priesthood.

“Priests, bishops, popes, all of us are interchangeable,” he said. “The priesthood is forever.”

Once at the cathedral, the three men processed to the altar as deacons for the last time. Following the Gospel, the men were ordained and received their garments as well as a Kiss of Peace from each of the clergy members in attendance. The new priests then participated in their first eucharistic preparation.

In his homily, the archbishop emphasized the role of the priest as a witness to Jesus Christ who is called to serve others in their own witnesses to the Lord.

“We may be the only Bible our neighbour reads,” said Collins, who was also celebrating the 14th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop.

Collins also used Pope Benedict XVI as an example of the obedience priests must have and of the sacrifices they must make. Before the death of Pope John Paul II, Benedict had planned on retiring to a quiet home where he could write books. He, however, obeyed the papal call, calling himself “a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord,” said Collins.

The archbishop asked for the friends, family and the rest of the congregation to pray for the new priests as they began a new stage of their lives.

“This is not a job,” said Collins. “This is a consecration forever.”

Read the Catholic Register's profiles of the three new priests:

Eric Mah:A decade of ignoring his call was wiped out in one Confession
Russell Asch:With patience, Asch finds his calling
Allyn Rose:Misery came in accounting, leading to his joyful call

{mosimage}TORONTO - The battle over using human embryos in stem-cell research is not just about creating cures for dreaded diseases. It is more importantly about treating human life as raw material that is expendable in the pursuit of scientific research, says Bishop Ron Fabbro of London, Ont.

Editor’s note: Michael Bator, director of education for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board , retired this month after 34 years as teacher, principal, superintendent and director. He offers below a reflection on what Catholic education has meant to him.

{mosimage}A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle (Plume, 315 pages, $15.50).

A New Earth has attracted notoriety thanks to the patronage of TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey. It is a profoundly non-Christian book that exploits the Holy Name of Jesus to bamboozle Oprah’s mostly Christian audience.

{mosimage}Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward (Oxford University Press, 347 pages, hardcover, $31.95).

Planet Narnia is one of the most creative works of scholarship I have read since I fled the murky world of graduate studies in English literature. Michael Ward sets before us one of the great mysteries of C.S. Lewis studies, i.e. what is the underlying unity among the seven Narnia stories, and solves it. It’s the kind of thing that makes a rival PhD student throw her laptop across the room and take to drink. Ward has made a brilliant discovery.