Ottawa, Canada, May 11, 2018 / 04:31 pm (CNA).- An estimated 15,000 people attended the Canadian March for Life on Thursday in Ottawa.
James Hughes, national president of the Campaign Life Coalition, said marchers were upbeat, and the clergy powerfully represented the faith.
“Mother Teresa on Parliament Hill back in the late ‘80s … turned to me and said ‘the interesting thing about the prolife movement is that it is ordinary people doing extraordinary things for God’,” Hughes recounted.
Pro-choice activists blocked the original route for this year’s march. Organizers were prepared, Hughes said, and had prepared alternate routes in advance. They also beefed up security.
Among the challenges facing the nation’s pro-life movement is a new requirement in the Canadian Summer Jobs Grants program which requires applicants to support the government’s pro-choice view to receive public funding.
This year, the Campaign Life Coalition was denied the $75,000 it usually receives to pay for summer workers. The organization has run a summer program for around 35 years.
The Canadian March for Life began 21 years ago, when Hughes was encouraged to start it by Nellie Gray, the founder for the annual pro-life march in Washington D.C.
“Despite the many defeats we have encountered over the last 40 years, we soldier on doing [God’s] work, and a new culture of life will come along in Canada in his own time,” Hughes said.
All photos courtesy of Robert DuBroy.
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Lima, Peru, May 23, 2018 / 11:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- The bishops of Peru have launched a campaign to collect funds to provide for the basic needs of Venezuelan refugees living in the country.
The Peruvian bishops’ conference announced the collection will take place June 3, during the day’s scheduled Masses.
According to Caritas International, about four million people have left Venezuela due to the grave economic crisis marked by a major shortage of food and medicine under the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro, the president of the country since 2013. Maduro was re-elected May 20 in questionable elections.
Maduro is the hand-picked successor of socialist president Hugo Chavez.
The main destination of the millions of refugees is Colombia, along with other countries such as Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies stated that the average Venezuelan lost about 24 pounds in 2017, in a population where almost 90 percent live below the poverty line.
The lack of medicine has caused an resurgence of diphtheria and an increase in measles and malaria, diseases that had almost been eradicated in Venezuela.
Cases of Malaria have skyrocketed while measles has claimed the lives of 26 children just in the Orinoco Delta area.
Venezuela closed 2017 with an inflation rate of 2,616 percent and a drop in Gross National Product of 15 percent. The International Monetary Fund forecasts inflation at 14,000 percent for 2018 which would be the highest index of inflation among emerging markets for this year and the next.
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia. / Credit: Shutterstock
CNA Newsroom, Jan 17, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
The Archdiocese of Bogotá has published an editorial criticizing the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, for announcing a supposed cease… […]
Vancouver Archbishop J.. Michael Miller, left, watches as Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith places the mitre on Father Gary Franken at his ordination as bishop of St. Paul, Alberta, Canada, in December 2022. Archbishop Smith has been appointed the next archbishop of Vancouver after Pope Francis accepted Archbishop Miller’s retirement. / Credit: Prithi Spoeth
Vancouver, Canada, Feb 25, 2025 / 17:50 pm (CNA).
Archbishop Richard W. Smith of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the next archbishop of Vancouver, succeeding Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, whose retirement has been accepted by the Holy Father.
Smith, 65, has led the Archdiocese of Edmonton since 2007 and has served in dioceses across Canada.
Miller reached the age of 75 in 2021 and submitted his resignation to the pope as required by canon law. However, he was asked to remain in office until a successor was named. The Vatican announced this morning that Smith will be the next shepherd of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, with Miller continuing as apostolic administrator until the new archbishop is installed as the 12th archbishop of Vancouver, likely in May.
In a statement, Smith said: “I am grateful to His Holiness for the confidence placed in me to assume this new mission and ask for the assistance of your prayers.”
Miller welcomed the appointment with “gratitude to the Holy Father and great satisfaction,” assuring Smith of his prayers and fraternal support.
“Vancouver has been given a shepherd of extraordinary gifts and vast experience. We warmly welcome Archbishop Smith, who is already familiar with the challenges facing us here — evangelization, passing on the faith to young people, Indigenous reconciliation, vocations to the priesthood, to name just a few.”
Despite the archdiocese waiting nearly four years for the announcement, Miller said, “it has proved well worth the wait.” He expressed appreciation for the pope’s discernment in making the appointment over an extended period and for allowing it to be announced even as he deals with serious illness.
As Pope Francis continues to receive treatment at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, Miller called for continued prayers.
“We have been very close to the Holy Father in recent days, praying fervently for him throughout the archdiocese. The appointment of a new archbishop brings the pope and his ministry as successor of Peter even nearer to our hearts and minds,” he said.
Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith celebrates Mass with Pope Francis at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton in July 2022. Credit: CNS/Paul Haring
Miller noted that after moving to Vancouver, Smith will have served “A Mari Usque Ad Mare” (“From Sea to Sea”), Canada’s official motto.
Smith has served as archbishop of Edmonton for 17 years and has been a priest for nearly 38 years.
Born in Halifax, he was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1987, for the Archdiocese of Halifax. He later pursued further studies in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, earning a licentiate in 1993 and a doctorate in 1998. In Halifax, he served as chaplain to the deaf community from 1986 to 1991, held the office of vicar general, and was responsible for pastoral ministry to French-speaking Catholics.
He was a professor of theology at St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario, before being appointed bishop of Pembroke, Ontario, in 2002.
In 2007, he was named archbishop of Edmonton. During his time there, Smith took on several national leadership roles, including president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, spiritual adviser to the Catholic Women’s League of Canada, and board member of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute. He is currently a member of the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA).
In 2022, he was the general coordinator for Pope Francis’ pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
Miller became archbishop of Vancouver in January 2009, succeeding the late Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, after serving as coadjutor archbishop since 2007. Before his appointment to Vancouver, he was secretary at the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome.
Defending the Defenceless is a noble calling.