Iran

WARSAW, Poland – The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church welcomed the election of a leader for the country's new independent Orthodox church.

VATICAN – In today's climate of mistrust, rejection and nationalism, the world urgently needs peacemakers and politicians who protect and lovingly serve others, Pope Francis said in his annual message for the World Day of Peace Jan. 1.

QUEBEC CITY – In the province of Quebec, one of the most secular societies in the world, debates around Christmas carols are not so much about faith and religion as they are about culture. A choir and sacred music specialist believes these carols remain beloved because people especially preserve the emotion associated with them.

Hopes dashed

I was filled with hope when I read that the federal government plans to drop the contentious anti-abortion test for summer job funding. But on further reading, my hopes were dashed. 

In order to receive summer-job funding for students, groups no longer have to attest to supporting reproductive rights, but the new wording is just as restrictive and just as vile. Applicants must declare they won’t work to infringe on any Canadian legal rights. 

Keep in mind that Canada has no laws on abortion. Abortion is not illegal but there are no laws or statutes giving women the legal right to kill their unborn child.

Other changes still deny pro-life groups from accessing summer-job funding. Any project or summer job that tries to “restrict access for a woman’s ability to access sexual or reproductive health services” (a euphemism for abortion) will be disqualified.

I see this as a ploy to divide faith-based groups from pro-life groups. Trudeau and the Liberals are concerned about public opinion before the next election. This is just a way to appease faith groups until the election. Then, should the Liberals win, we can expect the full weight of government to come down on faith groups.

Margaret Mountain,

North Gower, Ont.

In Broad Daylight: The Secret Procedures behind the Holocaust by Bullets by Fr. Patrick Desbois (Arcade Publishing, hardcover, 312 pages, $35)

Should doctors start prescribing a leisurely walk in the forest to improve health and well-being? According to researchers from Japan, the answer is a resounding yes. 

The televised funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush at the Washington National Cathedral was a reminder of times when the office of the U.S. President worked for bipartisanship, decency and decorum.

WARSAW, Poland – Catholic participants and observers criticized a "lack of ambition" by government negotiators at a U.N. conference on climate change that ended Dec. 15 with agreement on a rulebook to implement the 2015 Paris climate accord.

If Denis Costello can take anything away from more than a quarter century with Catholic Family Services Toronto, it’s knowing that the need for the agency has never been greater. 

VATICAN – The death penalty is an inhumane form of punishment that ignores the primacy of mercy in the name of justice, Pope Francis said.