ST. ALBERT, ALTA. - Divorce statistics aside, Christians still see marriage as a tremendous gift in their lives.

ST. PAUL, ALTA. - Fr. Gilbert Dasna is being remembered for being strong and faithful to his ministry as a priest.

EDMONTON - Like homeschooling parents across Alberta, Maria Blunt believes the new Alberta School Act has the potential to undermine her freedom to teach her four children what she believes.

“I value the freedom of home education and to teach what I wish to teach but (the act) does limit our freedom as far as our values go,” the Sherwood Park woman said.

Edmonton - Alberta’s newest member of the Canadian Senate is a board member of the Western Catholic Reporter and a long-time leader in St. Joseph’s Basilica parish.

Betty Unger, named to the Senate Jan. 6 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has served as chair of the WCR board and is currently in her seventh year as a board member. Unger has also been the chair of the parish pastoral council at the basilica parish and currently serves on its finance and administration, and human resources committees. She is also a member of the parish Catholic Women’s League and a Sunday lector.

CALGARY - Young pro-lifers from Calgary are petitioning the Alberta government to bring a halt to provincial funding for abortions.

The campaign to Defund Abortion in Alberta is a grassroots initiative started by university and college students, mostly from Calgary, seeking to eliminate public funding for abortion and to support conscience rights for taxpayers.

“A defunding campaign will also focus on uniting Albertans who often disagree about tactics in the abortion debate, but who would generally agree that tax dollars should not fund abortions,” said Amanda Achtman, a University of Calgary student active in the group.