VATICAN CITY – The survival of the Christian communities in the Middle East is threatened by violence and political repression, but also by the churches themselves. more . . .

TORONTO – The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has obtained a court injunction to block an access to information request for the names and funding levels for its nearly 200 partner organizations in developing nations. more . . .

Prostitution may be the world's oldest profession. But a recent Ontario court decision striking down the country's laws against prostitution does more than recognize the inevitable. It will bring harm not only to the sex trade workers, but also to the johns, the families of the johns and neighbourhoods. If the Supreme Court of Canada upholds the ruling, the common good of the country will be undermined.more . . .

FR. RON ROLHEISER, omi

Does God love some people more than others? Does God have favourites?

This is an old, disputed question with centuries of history: Is there a chosen race? Are some people predestined for heaven or hell? Does God love the poor more than the rich? Does God love sinners more than the righteous? Does God love virgins more than married persons? more . . .

BISHOP FRED HENRY

In 1967, Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical letter Populorum Progressio, challenging us to help our neediest sisters and brothers to achieve full human development.

We have indeed made huge strides forward as we understand ever more clearly that poverty in the form of cruel need – the need for decent living, clean water, land for food, basic health care, appropriate education, participation in decisions which have the most impact on personal and community life – is a dominant fact in the life of so many people today. more . . .

JOHN CONNELLY

In this week's Gospel, Jesus speaks of two men - a tax collector and a Pharisee.

The parable begins in the following way: "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else." more . . .

It used to be commonly thought that only priests and religious have vocations; laity have careers where they basically do their own thing within the bounds of basic morality.

This was a notion that represented a gross impoverishment of the mission of the Church. It not only relegated the laity to the status of ecclesiastical hangers-on, but also underestimated the action of the Holy Spirit in each person. more . . .

MARK PICKUP

There is a commonly used term that I find deeply offensive. Perhaps I find it offensive because there is a chance that one day I may be referred to by this term: The term is "vegetable" and its extension is "vegetative state."

I knew of a man with multiple sclerosis so advanced he could not move or speak; all he could do was blink his eyes to communicate. I was incensed to hear of him referred to as a vegetable. more . . .

BOB MCKEON

The public debates around the Athabasca oilsands appear to be entering a new phase. We see new developments in the media almost every day.

Until recently, provincial government and industry leaders insisted that the oilsands plants had no measurable pollution effect on the Athabasca River despite the claims made by environmentalists and independent scientists. When doctors spoke of serious damage to human health in downstream aboriginal communities, government officials bullied them into silence. more . . .

SHERWOOD PARK – Within the next few years English-speaking Canadian Catholics will celebrate the Mass with "a heightened language that focuses on transcendence," says a Manitoba pastor.

Father Geoffrey Angeles says he hopes the new Roman Missal touches "the hunger for faith" among Catholics.

"More and more we are meeting people who are looking for meaning in all the wrong places when the meaning is right in front of us," said Angeles, a liturgical composer and priest of the Winnipeg Archdiocese. more . . .