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Last Updated: Tuesday - 07/13/2010

Week of September 20, 1999

Canadian and Foreign News Highlights

Church seeks end to Timor slaughter:

After a week of bloodshed and repeated Church calls for international intervention, the Indonesian government agreed to allow UN peacekeeping troops into East Timor. The Sept. 12 move answered pleas from East Timor's two bishops, Pope John Paul, and Church leaders from several continents. At least 15 priests, 11 religious, and 40 members of Caritas International are known to have been killed. In all of Timor there were no more than 44 diocesan priests and 56 members of Catholic religious orders.

One in 5 Catholic kids attend weekly Mass:

More than a third of Canadian children under the age of 12 attend religious services at least once a month but Catholics are near the bottom of the scale when it comes to weekly attendance. Only 22 per cent of Catholic children under 12 go to church weekly, compared with 90 per cent for children in the Jehovah's Witness, according to the latest issue of Canadian Social Trends, produced by Statistics Canada.

Aging CWL wants a youth movement:

The Catholic Women's League of Canada is facing an aging membership. Its numbers could be reduced by more than 50 per cent over the next generation, according to their research. Sociologist Reginald Bibby noted that in 1995, 52 per cent of the Catholic women who attended church weekly were over 55 years of age and 28 per cent were between 35 and 54. However, the CWL survey found that 85 per cent of its members are older than 51 and only 13 per cent are between 35 and 50.

Church remembers Canadian Martyrs:

On the eve of a new millennium, the Catholic Church in Canada is turning to its roots in celebration of the 350th anniversary of the deaths of the eight Jesuit missionaries known as the Canadian Martyrs. "We thank God for giving the Church in Canada such impressive founders and models," said the permanent council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in a pastoral letter released Sept. 14, the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. The eight Canadian (or North American) Martyrs were Jean de Brebeuf, Antoine Daniel, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, Isaac Jogues and lay volunteer workers Rene Goupil and Jean de La Lande.

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