July

	Our Lady of Combermere Blessed in 1960, the statue Our Lady of Combermere stands with welcoming arms in a grove of trees at the Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ont., where the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in Canada is believed to have started 40 years ago, in August of 1968. The apostolate is a Catholic lay community of men, women and priests founded by Catherine de Hueck Doherty, whose cause for canonization can be found at http://www.catherinedoherty.org/life/ The apostolate gained national attention July 8 when it returned the Order of Canada medal presented to Doherty in 1976 to protest the recent decision to award abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler with the same honour. Doherty died in 1985.
	Our Lady of the Woods The chapel of Our Lady of the Woods was built by the men of the Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ont., in 1972 using discarded logs from 100-year-old barns in the area, about 100 kilometres west of Ottawa. Mass is celebrated in both Latin and Byzantine rites.
	The altar of the chapel of Our Lady of the Woods at the Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ont., faces East to Jerusalem as is the tradition in the Byzantine rite. Catherine de Hueck Doherty, the apostolate's founder, was born in Russia.
	The twin-spired church of St. Mary, dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Poland, serves parishioners in Wilno, Ont., Canada's first polish settlement, near Ottawa. In 1984, the airplane carrying Pope John Paul II flew over Wilno, reportedly disappointing residents who thought that because of Wilno's historical significance and the fact that the pope was Polish, the plane would land and John Paul would bless them.
	Canadian Television personality Don Newman and his wife, Shannon Day-Newman, are lending their support to an Ottawa fundraising campaign to rebuild St. Jude's Anglican Cathedral in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The couple is to emcee a fundraising concert at Christ Church (Anglican) Cathedral in Ottawa on Oct.26. "The purpose is to raise funds and to focus national (and international) attention on the project to re-build St Jude’s." said Cathedral Dean Shane Parker. "The foundations for the new St Jude’s will be put in place over this summer, so our event will be specifically geared to the proposed construction of the new Igloo Cathedral in 2009." St. Jude's, built in the shape of an igloo, was gutted by a deliberately set fire in Nov. 2005 and had to be demolished. Fundraising efforts to date have brought in about $2.2 million, but another $4.5 million is still needed.
	Regina businessman and philanthropist Frederick Hill -- decorated by church and state -- was instrumental in keeping Notre Dame College in nearby Wilcox open for decades after the death of its founder Pere Athol Murray. Hill, 87, died July 13 after a lengthy illness. His family requested that those wishing to celebrate his memory make a donation to the college. Pope Benedict XVI recently appointed Hill as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. He was named as a member of the Order of Canada in 1986 and was also a decorated war hero who piloted U.S. Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress Bombers in Italy and England during World War II. In reporting on his death, the Regina Leader-Post wrote, "While he conversed with presidents, prime ministers and popes, Hill was a modest man whose good works were done largely behind the scenes, as a generous donor, volunteer and community leader.
	Fredick Hill Hall on the campus of Athol Murray College of Notre Dame
	Father Noël Simard, Director of the Saint Paul University Ethics Centre, was one of two priests named by Pope Benedict XVI July 16 as Auxiliary Bishops of Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario. Simard, 60, was born in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. He was a parish priest until 1988, when he started working as professor in religious studies and ethics at the University of Sudbury and later as professor of moral theology and bioethics at Saint Paul University, in Ottawa. Father Brian Dunn, the second appointee, was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1955, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1980. He has been a member of the faculty of St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario, and has served as Dean of Studies since 2005.

	Anne Leahy, who was the federal co-ordinator for World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, has been appointed Ambassador to the Holy See. The announcement of her appointment was made July 10 by Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson. Educated at Queens University and the University of Toronto, Leahy served as ambassador to several countries, including Poland, Russia and the Great Lakes Region since she joined the Department of External Affairs in 1973. She succeeds Donald Smith.
	Archbishop Caleb Lawrence, the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Moosonee and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Ontario, is retiring. He resignation takes effect Jan. 6, 2010, two months after his term as metropolitan expires, the Anglican Journal reported July 10. At that time he will be 69. Lawrence is the longest serving bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada, having been consecrated in 1980.
	The Rev. David May, Director General of priests at the Madonna House apostolate in Combermere, Ont., talks to reporters outside Rideau Hall, the home of the Governor General of Canada on July 8 after he and other representatives of the Roman Catholic community returned the Order of Canada medal awarded to their late founder, Catherine Doherty in 1976. The group turned the medal over to Yves Bastien, a senior offiical of the Chancellery of Honours to protest the recent decision to award abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler with the same honour. "The order has been devalued in recent days, and we are confident that Catherine is spiritually present with us, affirming this gesture of love for our country and for the values which alone can sustain it," said May. "Without absolute respect for the gift of life, no society can survive."
	Susanne Stubbs of the Madonna House apostolate told CTV after the Order of Canada medal of Catherine Doherty was returned, "'We carried out a simple, symbolic gesture of returning (Catherine's) medal and citation to a representative of the governor general at the Princess Gate of Rideau Hall.' Stubbs said they returned the medal publicly because the awarding of the honor is a very public affair. "Dr. Morgentaler is a very public and symbolic figure. We were moved in conscience to make a public gesture of disappointment and sadness for our country," she said.

	Author and feminist Judy Rebick told the Globe and Mail June 30 that it is about time Dr. Henry Morgentaler was honored with the Order of Canada. Morgentaler, Canada's most prominent abortion rights activist, "is a hero to millions of women in the country," she said. "He risked his life to struggle for women's rights … He's a huge figure in Canadian history and the fact that he hasn't got [the Order of Canada] until now is a scandal."
	Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada is the chair of the independent advisory council that makes appointments to the Order of Canada. The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said it had nothing to do with the recent appointment of abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler to the Order.
	Bruce Clemenger, President of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said that in awarding Dr. Henry Morgentaler the Order of Canada, "an honour has been bestowed upon someone who participates in, promotes and, for many, symbolizes the moral tragedy of abortion." He also said it is "a reminder of the shameful reality that Canada is one of the few countries in the world without laws protecting the most vulnerable among us — unborn children."
	Edmonton Conservative MP Ken Epp, said the supporters of abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler have gone too far in having him appointed to the Order of Canada. Epp's private member's bill before the House of Commons would allow criminal charges to be laid if a fetus dies or is injured in an attack on a pregnant woman.
	Pro-life Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott says the Order of Canada normally goes to someone who is the unanimous choice of the advisory council. But he told the Globe and Mail that he has heard it was not the case with the selection of Dr. Morgentaler. "You would think it should be, as it has been in the past, a consensus," he said. "This is a pretty divisive issue. I think we can all agree on that. So why would we have the highest honour in the country being issued when there is obviously strong difference of opinion about it?"