United Nations

The following is the Christmas message released by Bishop Lionel Gendron, Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

OTTAWA – The Liberal government has promised to study three new reports on the possible expansion of the euthanasia law to include minors and those who suffer from mental disorders, but advocacy groups warn the government will likely expand the law after the 2019 election.

Medical ethics can’t be limited to patient choice, or even the health problems patients face, according to the president of the World Medical Association.

Battling a public relations crisis in the wake of sexual assault charges laid against students, St. Michael’s College School has tapped one of Canada’s leading experts in criminal law procedure to lead a four-member committee tasked with reviewing the culture at the school.

Ontario’s palliative care doctors are warning that the government is not ready for “an imminent spike in the number of people facing end-of-life.”

OTTAWA – Lawyers representing groups suing the Employment Minister over last year’s pro-abortion Canada Summer Jobs attestation say pro-life groups should be eligible for funding this year.

JAKARTA, Indonesia – More than 90,000 police and soldiers and a moderate Muslim youth group will help guard nearly 50,000 churches across Indonesia, including some previously attacked by terrorists, during the Christmas period.

VATICAN – While St. Joseph was a practical, down-to-earth man, he had enough faith to be open to God speaking through dreams, Pope Francis said at morning Mass.

VATICAN – Pope Francis made new appointments to the Dicastery for Communication, naming Andrea Tornielli, an Italian journalist, as its "editorial director" and Andrea Monda, an Italian journalist and religion teacher, as editor-in-chief of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

VATICAN – Before traveling to Rome for a major Vatican summit on the clerical sex abuse crisis and child protection, each participating bishop should meet with survivors of abuse, said the committee organizing the meeting.