As predictably as rain falling in Dublin, Irish pro-abortion stalwarts are already agitating for so-called exclusion zones around health facilities where the life-ending procedure is performed.

Choosing is in the air. At the beginning of the year, the marketers are competing for our money, and gyms and diet programs are poised to pounce on the good intentions that follow Christmas feasts. 

Last week, I put on my detective’s hat to help a friend from out of town. Her father had lost contact with a close friend of his who lived in St. Albert, a suburb of Edmonton. Could I help my friend’s dad find his friend?

Over the Christmas season, one story after another that I read or watched seemed to indicate Christianity is under siege around the world.

Lack of respect

Re: Van Hee launches a constitutional challenge of bubble zone law (Dec. 2):

Thank you for the good coverage of pro-life hero Fr. Tony Van Hee.

The undemocratic bubble-zone law, in effect forbidding helpful outreach to pregnant women seeking an abortion, really needs to be challenged. But I have one question about the headline in The Register, in reference to Fr. Tony Van Hee as simply “Van Hee.” This sounds cold and disrespectful.

I am aware it is standard practice in the media to refer to people in headlines by only their surnames, and not their titles. But might not this lack of respect also tie into society’s disrespect of human life, and even God Himself? Just musing.

Yvonne Dienesch,

Eganville, Ont.

After an extraordinary year of bickering and division in the U.S. Church, some 200 American bishops have listened to Pope Francis and taken a timeout. They gathered in early January for a six-day retreat near Chicago where they were encouraged to be silent and to pray.

If stereotypes are made to be deflated, Amanda Achtman is a young woman who carries a suitcase full of needles and hat pins.

Alberta’s Catholic school system is again under fire from the province’s education minister, David Eggen. The issue this time is the “Catholicity clause” in teachers’ contracts which require teachers to agree to live a Catholic lifestyle.

I was troubled to hear my Ottawa colleague describe what she saw Dec. 8 on Parliament Hill. 

Blame the culture

I salute St. Michael’s College School for their deft handling of the sexual bullying scandal. The alacrity and transparency displayed should be used as a template by all Catholic institutions.