Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and president of the Path to Peace Foundation, has announced that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will be the 2019 recipient of the Path to Peace Award.

Aid to the Church in Need is a Catholic and Pontifical organization concerned with the poor, oppressed or persecuted communities.

The Path to Peace Foundation supports various aspects of the work of the Holy See Mission to the UN and also funds humanitarian projects in developing countries.

Link to ACN news release

"Christians can't survive without you," a campaign launched by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canada (CNEWA Canada) in May 2018 to support Christians in the Middle East, has yielded $1.2 million Cdn, exceeding expectations, and will be extended through 2019.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has released its 2019 Message to Buddhists for the feast of Vesakh, on the theme "Buddhists and Christians: Promoting the Dignity and Equal Rights of Women and Girls". This Buddhist holy day commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha who, according to tradition, was born, achieved enlightenment, and died during the full moon of the month of May. The feast of Vesakh (also spelled Vesak or Wesak in English) is usually observed on the day of the full moon in May, which in Canada this year falls on 18 May.

Link to the Message

To mark the month of Ramadan and its conclusion (Id al-Fitr), the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue published a message entitled Christians and Muslims: Promoting Universal Fraternity. The message is intended to be shared with Muslims and those working in interfaith dialogues. The celebration of Ramadan began this year in Canada on 5 May and will continue for 30 days until it concludes with the celebration of Id al-Fitr on 4 June 2019.

Link to the message

On 9 May, the Holy Father published an Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu proprio entitled "Vos estis lux mundi" (You are the light of the world). This document clarifies a number of issues with regard to reporting procedures and accountability within the Church, and it demonstrates Pope Francis' commitment to amend the Code of Canon Law with the inclusion of serious measures to protect the most vulnerable from sexual abuse.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is pleased to receive these new norms as the Church's response "to prevent and combat these crimes that betray the trust of the faithful". The CCCB will study the new norms and take the necessary steps to ensure that Bishops are properly informed so that they may implement them in their dioceses/eparchies in a manner which complements and enhances the CCCB Guidelines released in 2018.

Apostolic Letter "Vos estis lux mundi"

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), in profound unison with Pope Francis, affirms that all human life should be respected and protected from the moment of conception until natural death. The Bishops of Canada have and will continue to advocate and collaborate with organizations across the country, many of which are not Catholic, in endeavours to bring together people from different perspectives who believe in the sanctity of life. Events such as the annual and regional Marches for Life are meaningful opportunities to unite thousands of people speaking with one voice to proclaim the dignity of all human life. In full communion with the Holy Father, Catholic Bishops and all faithful are united in declaring, as the Church has believed since its beginning, that the "distinctiveness of human life is an absolute good," and that "abortion and euthanasia [are] extremely grave evils that contradict the Spirit of life and plunge us into the anti-culture of death". Likewise, Pope Francis has recently observed that the "threshold of basic respect for human life is being crossed, and brutally at that, not only by instances of individual conduct but also by the effects of societal choices and structures" (15 January 2019 letter from Pope Francis to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life). Today, the Bishops join their prayers with all those who stand up for life.

It is with great sadness and sorrow that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) learned of the death of Jean Vanier yesterday, 7 May 2019.

Born to former diplomat and Governor General of Canada, Major-General Georges and his wife Pauline Vanier on 10 September 1928 in Geneva, Switzerland, Jean Vanier spent much of his childhood living in France and England as well as Canada. While he served in both the British Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, he left to pursue a more spiritual calling to live his life guided by the Gospels. He pursued his studies and completed a PhD in philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1962. A visit to a small village in France with an institution that housed men with intellectual disabilities, prompted him to learn more about them and the sufferings they endured. In 1964, he purchased a small home and invited two men with disabilities to leave the institutions where they resided and live with him. This became the first community to become known as L'Arche - a place where people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers journey through life together. It was in Canada, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, that the second home was established in 1969 and where he launched what was to become the present-day International Federation of L'Arche Communities consisting of 154 residential communities in 38 countries on five continents that welcome some 10,000 members.

The National Week for Life and the Family will be celebrated across Canada 12 to 19 May 2019, with the start of the week coinciding with Mother's Day. For the seventh consecutive year, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is offering dioceses/eparchies, parishes as well as Catholic organizations and associations groups possible resources and options for planning and organizing local activities. The theme for 2019 is "Listening to the Gospel as a Family". The resources have been prepared by the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), working in collaboration and consultation with the CCCB, and are available online, and may be freely downloaded and reproduced by dioceses/eparchies, parishes and other non-profit groups.

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) has released on its website its annual message for the National March for Life, to be held this year in Ottawa on 9 May 2019. In its message entitled "You Give Life To All Things and Make Them Holy", COLF writes that "We will not sit idly by; we shall continue to fight for the preborn, to aid mothers in need, and to support the suffering and the dying when they are most vulnerable. We shall continue to lift up our voices so that justice is restored once again in our land."

Link to COLF's Message (PDF)

The Most Reverend Michael Mulhall will be installed as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kingston at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Kingston, on 3 May 2019 at 2:30 p.m. The Most Reverend Luigi Bonazzi, Apostolic Nuncio to Canada will preside, and a number Archbishops and Bishops from across Canada will be present. When appointed Archbishop of Kingston by the Holy Father on 28 March 2019, Archbishop Mulhall was the Bishop of the Diocese of Pembroke. The Most Reverend Brendan M. O'Brien served as Archbishop of Kingston for the past twelve years. For more information regarding Archbishop Mulhall's installation, please visit the website of the archdiocese of Kingston.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) continues to post possible homily ideas and prayers of the faithful to help link the Sunday liturgy with the national pastoral initiative for life and family. The proposed texts for the month of May 2019 include suggestions from the 3rd Sunday of Easter, 5 May to the 6th Sunday of Easter 26 May. As usual, the suggestions for homilies and prayers can be easily adapted for family prayer, as well as for personal prayer or for use with other groups or organizations. The texts for the month of May are available on the special Life and Family webpage, under the section "Documents and activities proposed by the CCCB".

Ottawa – The recent conference, He Thirsts For You, hosted by the Episcopal Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis (English Sector) of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) was a successful initiative. A comprehensive agenda featuring a one-person play by Elisa Lollino, keynote speakers Dr. Josephine Lombardi, Father Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I. and the Most Reverend William McGrattan, as well as a variety educational workshops, attracted over 200 participants to Ottawa for the two-day event held from 4 to 6 April 2019.

Recognizing more than a decade has passed following the last national conference on catechesis, hosted by the then National Office for Religious Education (NORE, now the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis), planning and organization for the 2019 conference began in 2016. The theme, He Thirsts For You, was inspired by the Gospel passage John 4:5-42 – the Samaritan Woman at the Well. The biblical account describes the experience of a woman who encounters Jesus and, as a result of this transformative meeting, embarks on a journey of evangelization to bear witness about her experience to the people in her village.