TORONTO - Religious persecution, whether by mob violence, popular prejudice or state-imposed restrictions on religious practice, is significant in 163 countries, according to the Pew Research CentreöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Forum on Religion and Public Life, with Christianity being the number one target. The worldöÏÓãÊÓƵapp 2.2 billion Christians face significant state or popular persecution in 130 countries, says the Pew Forum, while Aid to the Church in Need estimates 150,000 Christians are killed annually because of their faith.

TORONTO - When Toronto artist Viktor Mitic began his Bullet Proof collection, he started with the most iconic image of the past 2,000 years: Jesus Christ.

Students from Hamilton, Ont.öÏÓãÊÓƵapp Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School are going for gold — again — at this yearöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Heritage Music Festival May 1 to 5.

TORONTO - The Earth matters to students and staff at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts — it matters enough to inspire prayer, song and art.

To paraphrase the title of an earlier movie about the national pastime, hate strikes out in the historical drama 42 (Warner Bros.) Writer-director Brian Helgeland's uplifting — if sometimes heavy-handed — film recounts the 1947 reintegration of professional baseball after decades of segregated play.

TORONTO - Holy Week is always a busy time for students of St. MichaelöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Choir School, but four-hour rehearsals this year are not just for their requisite masses at St. MichaelöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Cathedral. On Easter Monday, 180 boys from the choir school will board a plane and head to Italy for a series of musical engagements, and the opportunity to sing for Pope Francis.

As a theologian, Natalie MacMaster favours the toe-tapping, hand-clapping, step-dancing-around-the-kitchen-table school of theological inquiry. The Juno-Award-winning fiddler now has an honorary doctor of divinity degree to back up her theology.

TORONTO - The Renaissance has always been worth looking at — all those gorgeous paintings and striking sculptures — but itöÏÓãÊÓƵapp also worth a listen.

Sacred Acts: How ChurchesAre Working to Protect EarthöÏÓãÊÓƵappClimate, edited by Mallory McDuff(New Society Publishers, 288pages, softcover, $17.95).

Matthew Teitelbaum, the director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Ontario, calls Revealing the Early Renaissance: Stories and Secrets in Florentine Art “the greatest exhibition of Italian art ever to come to Canada.�