MISSISSAUGA, ONT. — The next archbishop of Baghdad has spent 14 years in Canada learning some of the blessings of the secular state.

"In my 14 years in Canada the thing that really impressed me was the way democracy developed in this country," Archbishop-elect Yousif Mansoor told The Catholic Register.

EDMONTON — The Alberta bishops will not participate in this year’s March for Life because organizers could not guarantee that placards displaying dead fetuses would not be present at the event.

Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith, liaison bishop with the march organizers, said the presence of images of aborted babies at the march is not consistent with the message the bishops want to portray about the dignity of human life. more . . .

Christians should avoid worrying about whether they measure up to what other people in the Church are doing.

That was St. Paul's message when he wrote about the Church being one body with many parts. It was also the message Kyle Heimann, from the acoustic rock group, Popple, brought to the first Central Alberta Youth Rally March 5. more . . .

VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church's "new evangelization" is an effort to present the Gospel in a way that makes sense and gives hope to modern men and women, says Archbishop Nikola Eterovic.

Eterovic, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, said the October 2012 general Synod of Bishops will focus on the new evangelization and dozens of questions involved with it. more . . .

WINNIPEG - The Interfaith Task Force on Northern Hydro Development has set out to promote thoughtful, mature debate about issues that will have a major effect on Manitoba's future.

"With Manitoba Hydro wanting to spend over $17 billion on new projects in the next 15 years, robust public debate is important," says the Rev. Hugo Unruh, co-chair of the taskforce. more . . .

Lent was never supposed to be about giving up your bad habits. If you have bad habits, why wait for Lent to give them up? Easter, of course, should not be your chance to take up your old and beloved bad habits. more . . .

WINNIPEG — She is passionate about her Church and even more passionate about the topic of abuse of children by priests in the Church and why it happened.

Sister Nuala Kenny, a Sister of Charity of Halifax and a retired pediatrician and medical ethicist, says there is still "unfinished business" from the clergy sexual abuse crisis. more . . .

TORONTO — Gun violence in Jamaica kills more people than some formally declared wars, said the director of an ecumenical program tapped by the Canadian government to help the Caribbean basin nations track the flow of weapons and ammunition. more . . .

OTTAWA - Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's federal minister for minorities, who was assassinated in Islamabad March 2 for protesting against his countries blasphemy law, said before his death he was ready to lay down his life for God and his nation. more . . .

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican condemned the killing of a Catholic government minister in Pakistan who had spoken out against anti-blasphemy laws.

"The assassination of the Pakistani minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, is a new and terribly serious act of violence," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said March 2. more . . .