Recent Catholic News

By Gudrun Schultz TORONTO, Ontario, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – TD Bank Financial Group has entered into a new business deal with the Quebec Gay Chamber of Commerce (QGCC). The three-year partnership is designed to promote the growth of Quebec’s gay community. TD Bank will offer services that “meet the specific needs of business leaders in the gay and lesbian community in Quebec.” In return, TD Bank will be the principal financial institution for the chamber and its members. The QGCC is the second largest Chamber of Commerce in Canada. “This arrangement meshes with our values, not only inside the […]

By John-Henry WestenÂÂÂ OTTAWA, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), the national association of evangelical Christians in Canada, has expressed concern “that some of the principles Evangelicals are committed to were portrayed as ‘extreme’ during the campaign.” The organization which represents more than 140 affiliated denominations, ministry organizations and educational institutions, said in a post-election statement: “Protecting the unborn and holding to the traditional definition of marriage are two of those principles. These views are shared by many in Canadian society across religions and social/cultural lines. We trust that as Members of Parliament engage in […]

By Gudrun Schultz January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After thirty-three years of abortion-on-demand in the US, abortion activists are saying they can feel their grip on the country starting to slide away. “I think [Roe vs. Wade] in the short term will be dismantled,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, to Reuters. “We have an anti-choice president, an anti-choice Congress and now … with the confirmation of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court, we are seeing the potential for a very right-leaning, anti-choice Supreme Court.” Judge Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court has given pro-life advocates concrete […]

By Gudrun Schultz STEINBACH, Manitoba, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNew.com) –Over half the pharmacies in the town of Steinbach refuse to stock the abortifacient pill known as “Plan B,” which will prevent pregnancy, or end a pregnancy in the first few days following conception. “You’re not going to find that around here because of the kind of community this is,” staff in a small, privately owned pharmacy told the Winnipeg Free Press last week. Steinbach is a predominantly Christian community with strong roots in the Mennonite tradition. Health Canada made Plan B available without a prescription in April 2005. It is […]

MONTREAL, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Â A Montreal woman, Marielle Houle, who pleaded guilty to killing her son Charles Fariala using sleeping pills and a plastic bag, has been sentenced to three years probation. Houle had pleaded guilty to a charge of assisting the suicide of her son, a playwright and student suffering from multiple sclerosis and apparent depression. The maximum penalty for assisted suicide is 14 years. Houle’s lawyer, Salvatore Mascia, described her crime as an act of “unconditional love.” The Crown, however, said that while Houle’s intentions may have been “compassionate,” Canada is not a society that tolerates […]

TORONTO, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian national pro-life organization, Campaign Life Coalition, has updated it online election 2006 candidates database to reflect the results of last week’s election. The number of votes received by each of the major candidates and the winning candidates’ party, name and votes are all highlighted in red. As well, pro-life, pro-family MP Votes and responses by candidates to the CLC questionnaire are easier to quickly identify now as they all have a * before suggest correct Yes’s and No’s. A *Y or *N is a correct vote or answer. All of this information […]

By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, January 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Stephen Harper will be sworn in as Prime Minister on February 6, but that didn’t stop him from having his first press conference in Prime Ministerial fashion Thursday. Responding to questions from reporters, Harper revealed that he will be dealing promptly, but not immediately with the issue of marriage and remain firm in his plans to provide parents choice in child care. On bringing forward a motion on returning to the traditional definition of marriage Harper said, “I’ve simply said that we’ll be doing it in the life of the parliament. […]

By Gudrun Schultz WASHINGTON, United States, January 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Republicans appear to have gathered enough support to defeat a final attempt by the Democrats to block Justice Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court confirmation.   Republican Senate Majority leader Bill Frist called for a motion on Thursday to cut off debate on the nomination, a motion that requires only 60 votes in the Senate. If that motion should pass, the Senate would then vote on Alito’s nomination on Tuesday. The nomination would pass with a majority of 51 votes. With 53 Republican votes supporting the move, and a growing […]

By Terry Vanderheyden ST. LOUIS, Missouri, January 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Target pharmacist has lost her job for refusing to dispense or refer for the abortifacient morning-after pill. “For me, life begins with two cells,” said Heather Williams, explaining that the so-called emergency contraception pill, Plan B by Barr Pharmaceuticals, often prevents implantation of a newly formed human embryo within the uterine wall – which, of course, constitutes abortion. The same mechanism is responsible for the sometimes abortifacient effect of the regular birth-control-pill. According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report, Williams has refused to dispense or refer for the […]

By Hilary White NEW YORK, January 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (CFAM), has congratulated Canadians on the Conservative victory in Monday’s federal election and says it looks forward to a less hostile set of UN appointees from Canada. Calling the Liberal-appointed Canadian representatives to the UN, “notoriously hostile” to UN supporters of life and family, Austin Ruse said, “Over the past 12 years, the Liberal Party’s choices for Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and for membership in delegations to U.N. conferences have advanced the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and pro-prostitution agenda.” Wendy Wright, Executive […]