WASHINGTON — Saying he “cannot promote the new missal translation with integrity,” the former chairman of the music committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy has withdrawn from all speaking engagements related to the missal. more . . .

Even in the midst of the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, St. Peter Canisius knew how to defend Catholic doctrine without launching personal attacks on those who disagreed, Pope Benedict said. more . . .

LUMSDEN, SASK. — Anglicans, Lutherans and Roman Catholics have similar views of marriage, but significant differences surfaced during discussions at the annual St. Michael’s Retreat Ministries Bishops’ Day. more . . .

The world should rejoice if the protests in Egypt lead to the establishment of democracy. The hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Tahrir Square say this is what they want. They want free and fair elections, the rule of law, enforceable human rights and independent courts. Despite its weaknesses, democracy is much closer to the will of the people than is the arbitrary will of a dictator. more . . .

FR. RON ROLHEISER, omi

Eighty-five years ago, G. K. Chesterton looked at his society and saw some things that disturbed him. Here’s his comment:

“There comes an hour in the afternoon when the child is tired of ‘pretending’; when he is weary of being a robber or a noble savage. It is then that he torments the cat. There comes a time in the routine of an ordered civilization when the man is tired at playing at mythology and pretending that a tree is a maiden or that the moon made love to a man. more . . .

KATHLEEN GIFFIN

I was the youngest of four siblings who together attended a country school. We lived on a farm, and if we forgot to take something in the morning, parents weren't called to ask them to bring it to school. more . . .

JOE GUNN

It's all the buzz in Ottawa — a federal election seems to be on the horizon. Vancouver South Liberal MP Ujjal Dossanjh has said a late spring election is all but "inevitable." more . . .

FR. RAYMOND DE SOUZA

What will the apostolic visitation of Ireland accomplish?

In response to the sexual abuse crisis there, Pope Benedict decided last spring to send five bishops to carry out a visitation - ecclesiastical parlance for an investigation — of the archdioceses and seminaries of Ireland. He chose quite a high-powered team: Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster (retired), Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto and Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa. They have each been assigned one Irish archdiocese, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been assigned the Irish seminaries. more . . .

SR. LOUISE ZDUNICH, NDC

Do pets go to heaven? It would be sad for many people if they're in heaven without their pets. more . . .

Douglas Roche, long-time nuclear disarmament activist and founding editor of the Western Catholic Reporter, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Roche, who has served as senator, member of Parliament and Canada's ambassador for disarmament, has been nominated by the International Peace Bureau for his role in launching and leading the Middle Powers Initiative. more . . .