(CCCB – Ottawa) – The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) has published its annual message for families with special focus on single-parent families.

This year’s message recognizes that family circumstances have become more complex and diverse. Although most couples decide at some point to get married and have children, it is a fact that these marriages happen later, are more fragile and are more at risk of breakdown. Increasingly, children are living with a single parent or with step-parents. In 2001, out of 1.07 million Canadian children, 19% of children did not live with both parents. A majority of children lived with one parent only, most often their mother.

The message, entitled Families: Messengers of the Compassionate Love of Christ, launches a call for the solidarity and compassion of all families with those that face difficulties in life. “Through the example of Jesus Christ, who took upon himself our loneliness and reclothed it with his presence, our families are called to remain near to, compassionate toward and in solidarity with families that are struggling in some way,” the document says.

The COLF message can be ordered through the COLF secretariat by telephone: (613) 241-9461, ext. 161; by fax: (613) 241-9048; or by email: ocvfcolf@cccb.ca. Donations to cover the costs of printing would be greatly appreciated.

COLF was jointly founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus to promote respect for human life and dignity and the essential role of the family.

Families: Messengers of the Compassionate Love of Christ is available for downloading in PDF format.

(CCCB – Ottawa) – Rev. Irénée Beaubien, S.J., an important leader in the Canada’s ecumenical movement, will receive the Order of Canada this Friday at a ceremony in Ottawa presided over by Her Excellency Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada.

For more than 50 years, Rev. Beaubien played an important role in ecumenical dialogue, both nationally and internationally. He was involved with the Catholic Forum (a centre for information and exchange on Catholicism), the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (founded to foster better understanding and promote cooperation among Christian Churches and other religious traditions), and Sentiers de Foi (offering services to Christians with no ongoing ties to their Churches). In 1968, Pope Paul VI named Rev. Beaubien a consultor to the Secretariat for Christian Unity in Rome.

He led the French Sector’s Conseil national d’oecuménisme at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) for eight years and represented Canada’s Bishops at many international meetings. He founded Ecumenism, a journal published in English and French and read in more than 40 countries.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize those who have contributed exceptional service and have made a difference to Canada. It is the highest honour that can be awarded to a Canadian.

On May 9, Rev. Beaubien will be among 54 Canadians to receive the Order of Canada that includes one companion, 16 officers and 37 members.

(CCCB – Ottawa) – His Holiness Pope John Paul II today named Rev. Stephen Victor Chmilar as the Ukrainian Eparchial Bishop for Toronto and Eastern Canada after accepting the resignation of Most Rev. Cornelius John Pasichny, O.S.B.M., for reason of age. Bishop-elect Chmilar had been pastor of Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Mississauga, Ontario.

Born May 24, 1945, in Lamont, Alberta, Bishop-elect Chmilar studied philosophy and theology at Saint Paul University in Ottawa and was ordained a priest on June 11, 1972 as a member of the Order of Saint Basil.

He has served in parishes in Mundare and Edmonton in Alberta; Ottawa, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia; Denver, Colorado; Buffalo, New York; Hamilton, Ontario; and finally in Mississauga, Ontario. He also helped the Marriage Tribunal in Ottawa, and the Ukrainian Marriage Tribunal in Edmonton. At the time of his nomination, he was chancellor of the Eparchy of Toronto as well as a member of its Presbyteral Council and of its College of Consultors.

The Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada has 89 diocesan priests, 9 religious priests, 19 deacons, 29 religious (including both women and men in addition to religious priests), and one lay pastoral minister, serving a Catholic population of 41,010 in 76 parishes and missions.

The Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada is one of 7 Eastern Churches in Canada.

(CCCB – Ottawa) Canada’s role in World Youth Day 2002 will officially come to an end this coming Sunday in Rome when a Canadian delegation, in the presence of Pope John Paul II, will hand over the World Youth Day Cross, which they have taken care of for the past three years, to a delegation of German young people who will host World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany.

The ceremony will take place in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican following the Passion Sunday Mass, the date in the Catholic calendar that World Youth Day is normally celebrated around the world. The major international World Youth Day celebrations are held every two or three years, the last one being in Toronto in July 2002.

The Canadian delegation to Rome is headed by Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic of Toronto, Bishop François Lapierre, P.M.É., of St-Hyacinthe, and Rev. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., National Director of World Youth Day 2002. The three will take part in an international symposium on World Youth Day being organized by the Vatican. Delegates from 100 countries will take part in this meeting that will review the events of World Youth Day 2002.

(CCCB – Ottawa) – His Eminence Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto, died April 6, 2003, at the age of 91.

Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, 2003, at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, with the funeral Mass to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 10, 2003.

Cardinal Carter was born on March 1, 1912, in Montreal, Quebec, and ordained to the priesthood in 1937. In 1961 he was named Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of London. He became Bishop of London in 1964 and then installed as Archbishop of Toronto in 1978. He was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on June 30, 1979.

An important figure in Montreal’s education system, founding St. Joseph’s Teachers College for English-speaking Catholics, Cardinal Carter was a member of the Montreal Catholic School Commission for 15 years, and active at McGill University’s Newman Club and the St. Thomas More Institute.

In Toronto, Cardinal Carter was responsible for expanding the Archdiocese’s pastoral programs, Catholic education and social services as well as implementing the reforms of Vatican II. He was involved with the opening of Covenant House for street youth and worked with the Province of Ontario to provide affordable housing to the elderly and disabled. He retired as Archbishop of Toronto in 1990.

Cardinal Carter served as President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and was a member of a number of episcopal commissions including liturgy, and doctrine and faith. In addition to participating in the Second Vatican Council, he also was a member of the Vatican’s Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, the Congregation for Divine Worship, the Permanent Council of the Synod of Bishops, the Secretariat for Non-Christians, the Secretariat for Christian Unity, and the Cardinals’ Commission on Financial Questions.

(Ottawa – CCCB)  The pastoral plan of the Third Continental Congress on Vocations to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America has just been released.

The 136-page plan is the result of last April’s Congress in Montreal that saw 1200 people from across North America gather to examine the current vocations situation and develop strategies for the future.  It was held at the request of the Holy Father and was organized by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops working in collaboration.

The plan, entitled “Conversion, Discernment and Mission: A Practical Guide for Fostering a Vocations Culture in North America”, is a reflection and a guide for practical action, proposing strategies and answers to the question “How do we create and establish a ‘vocations culture’ throughout the Church in North America?”   Intended for everyone for whom vocations make a difference, it lists practical suggestions for bishops and community leaders of institutes for consecrated life, as well as members of the clergy and religious, parents and many others in the Christian community.

The user-friendly document contains two sections:  The first is called Foundations – Conversion and Discernment which discusses the process of the Vocations Congress. The second section Action – Mission looks at concrete ways to create this vocations culture, including a facilitator’s guide for meetings in parishes, deaneries, dioceses, eparchies, communities, national organizations and regions.

One of the Congress’ prime orientations was to foster a “preferential option for the young.” This is reflected throughout the pastoral plan as a result of the dynamic and emotionally moving participation of a large contingent of young adults at the Congress who committed themselves to the future of the Church, asking in turn for its support and guidance.

(CCCB – Ottawa) – His Holiness Pope John Paul II today named Most Reverend Raymond J. Lahey as Bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. At the time of his appointment, he was Bishop of St. George’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Diocese of Antigonish has been vacant since the retirement of Bishop Colin Campbell in October 2002 for reasons of health.

Born May 29, 1940, in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Bishop Lahey studied for the priesthood at Saint Paul’s Seminary in Ottawa and was ordained as a priest on June 13, 1963. He studied canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and pursued post-doctoral studies in Church history at the University of Cambridge, England.

Before being named Bishop of St. George’s in July 1986, he taught religious studies at Memorial University in St. John’s and served in various pastoral positions for the Archdiocese, including Vicar General and pastor of St. Peter’s Parish.

At present, Bishop Lahey is President of the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly and a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He has served on a number of commissions of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, including the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy, the Episcopal Commission for Christian Education, and the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism.

The Diocese of Antigonish has 137 diocesan priests, 12 religious priests, one permanent deacon, 332 religious (including both women and men other than religious priests), and 14 lay pastoral ministers serving a Catholic population of 139,990 in 123 parishes and missions.

(CCCB – Ottawa) – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in collaboration with the National Office of World Youth Day 2002 and Novalis, has made available on video and DVD the complete Way of the Cross that took place on University Avenue in Toronto, Friday evening, July 26, 2002. This historic presentation involved an audience of over 500,000 people on the streets of Toronto, plus a television audience of more than one billion people in over 160 countries.

Simply entitled “Way of the Cross”, the 172-minute production (on two video cassettes or one DVD) is accompanied by a 64-page booklet with the complete script of the Way of the Cross as well as an introduction to this Catholic devotion known also as the “Stations of the Cross”.

The World Youth Day 2002 Way of the Cross has been hailed as a “magnificent” and “stunning” presentation throughout the world. Pope John Paul II wrote the text of the Stations for the Great Jubilee in 2000, which was then adapted for the Toronto presentation in 2002.

This is the second World Youth Day production to be released by CBC. The first, a commemorative video/DVD this past fall, was a 93-minute production entitled “World Youth Day with the Pope in Canada”. Part of the proceeds from all the sales goes to World Youth Day 2002.

“Home versions” of either of the two CBC videos / DVDs can now be ordered: the “Way of the Cross” (Cdn $29.95 + GST, PST and shipping), as well as “World Youth Day with the Pope in Canada” (Cdn $19.95 + GST, PST and shipping).

Churches, parishes and libraries planning to screen either production for group use must, by copyright law, purchase the “public performance” version. The “public performance” version of “Way of the Cross“ sells for $99.00 + GST, PST and shipping.

Either video/DVD can be ordered:

• By telephone: within North America, toll-free number 1-800-387-7164, or phone 416-363-3303
• By fax: within North America, toll-free fax number 1-800-204-4140, or dial 416-363-9409
• By e-mail: cservice@novalis-inc.com
• By internet: http://www.novalis.ca/

This document is only available in French.

(CCCB – Ottawa) … The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) held its fifth annual forum on biotechnology, focusing on the patenting of higher life forms and xenotransplantation.

The forum, held March 20-21, 2002, in Ottawa, brought together bishops, scientists, lawyers, ethicists, theologians and Church staff to examine these complex issues.

Notwithstanding the ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada that the Harvard mouse, genetically engineered for cancer research purposes, cannot be patented in Canada as a new life form, forum participants remain concerned about the ethical considerations of future patent legislation. Some countries have already ruled that patents can be granted over human DNA sequences and genetically modified animals.

As for the impact of patenting higher life forms, forum participants stressed once again the importance of respecting human dignity. They also expressed concern about protecting human genetic integrity, preventing the objectification and commodification of human life, the danger of exploiting the human person, equal access to the basic resources of life, and recognition of the value of all life forms. For forum participants, the fundamental questions are what it means to be human and what is our relation to the rest of creation. It was agreed these are the fundamental issues in ecological and environmental ethics.

Xenotransplantation

Also part of the forum were presentations on xenotransplantation by Dr. François Pothier, professor with the Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Laval University, who specializes in genetic transplantation (genetic manipulation), and by Dr. Thérèse Leroux, professor with the Faculty of Law at the University of Montreal, who has a doctorate in medical biochemistry. Xenotransplantation involves the transplantation of tissue and organs between different species, and in particular animal tissue into humans. Professor Pothier indicated that this technique, which until recently had been very promising, would probably come to an end because it entails potential dangers such as the development of new retroviruses (similar to AIDS) which might pose a risk to the general population.

Necessary Reflection

Bishop Pierre Morissette of Baie-Comeau, a member of the COLF board of directors, thanked the participants for a frank and fruitful discussion. “It is important to hold meeting such as this,” he said, “where we can come to grips with the fact that society is ill prepared to face the challenges involved with the rapid developments in biotechnology.” It was also confirmed that the sixth COLF seminar is to be held in 2004.

This annual forum is organized by COLF to promote debate on ethical and moral challenges resulting from the development of new technologies and to provide an exchange between ethicists and scientists.

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family was jointly founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus. Its purpose is to promote respect for life, human dignity and the essential role of the family.