TORONTO - Birthright International has been for more than four decades a place that provides a loving alternative to abortion, said co-president Mary Berney.

“We’re here to help women and to basically show them how they can have their baby,” Berney told The Catholic Register.

Founded in Toronto in 1968 by Louise Summerhill, a mother of seven, Birthright International now has about 350 offices in Canada, the United States and Africa.

Solid, lasting and happy marriages aren’t as rare as the entertainment industry would seem to suggest — and are worth talking about. 

And a group of mothers who had gathered for a Valentine������Ƶapp Day event with their kids realized that.

“We were sitting around talking, then we started reminiscing about our romances and I was just so moved by different peoples’ stories and how God had helped them along,” said Kathy Cassanto, a mother from Braeside, Ont., who was so moved by her friends’ courtship stories she suggested they gather more stories and compile them into a book.

WASHINGTON - While studies have long shown the negative effects on children of divorce compared to those from two-parent households, a new study has determined that children born to cohabiting couples fare even worse than children from divorced families.

Despite a drop in the divorce rate, “family instability continues to increase for the nation������Ƶapp children overall, mainly because more than 40 per cent of American children will now spend time in a cohabiting household,” according to the study, “Why Marriage Matters,” issued recently by the Centre for American Families at the Institute for American Values and the National Marriage Project, based at the University of Virginia.

TORONTO - During the end-of-day rush hour at Sheppard subway station, TTC busker Benjamin “Lex” Tan strums his guitar, preparing to start his evening������Ƶapp repertoire of pop music mixed in with rock, Christian contemporary and Christmas classics.

Although the pocket change is welcome (the most Tan������Ƶapp made in a two- or three-hour session was $60), it������Ƶapp the opportunity to share his talents and God������Ƶapp love through the universal language of music that matters most, he said.

In fact, his most memorable “tip” from a TTC rider was a freshly baked pumpkin pie on his first day, Thanksgiving Monday.

TORONTO - An all-girls Toronto Catholic high school is looking to raise $20,000 this school year to help sustain South Sudan������Ƶapp first secondary school for girls.

“We are trying to raise enough funds to help (the Loretto Sisters) open that school so young women can continue to be educated,” said Loretto Abbey High School principal Alda Bassani.

Toronto������Ƶapp Loretto Abbey is partnering with another Loretto Abbey in Dublin, Ireland, to raise funds for the Loreto Secondary Boarding School in South Sudan. The school is run by the Irish province of the Loretto Sisters, also known as the Institute of the Blessed Virgin May (IBVM). Students and staff will be donating proceeds from charity events throughout the school year. Planned so far are a pasta night, Christmas concert and multicultural event.

TORONTO - The Toronto Catholic District School Board voted unanimously to look into creating the board������Ƶapp first independent ombudsperson.

Vice-chair Jo-Ann Davis, who sponsored the motion at the Nov. 24 board meeting, said an independent ombudsperson would “ensure further transparency” and a system that������Ƶapp “responsive and accountable.”

The TCDSB policy and governance committee will be looking into the motion and will be inviting experts to speak on the issue, she said.

WASHINGTON (CNS) - As U.S. nutritionists cringe over the prospect of an overweight nation indulging in a two-month binge of "season's eatings" -- from Halloween candy to Thanksgiving dinners to Christmas feasts to New Year's parties -- there are millions of Americans who aren't sure they're going to get enough to eat this day or the next.

The problem is made worse by lack of access to nutritious food, as residents of America's poorest cities and neighborhoods have little choice but to make do with fast food or convenience stores that don't stock fresh produce.

TORONTO - Incarnation is the art of God. But the art that Ballet Creole practises has the same inspiration.

This year will be the 10th time the Toronto company dances the Soulful Messiah. It will also be its 10th version of the Christmas favourite set to Quincy Jones’ jazz-gospel-funk reinterpretation of Handel������Ƶapp masterwork.

Each year the dance piece grows a little, sheds some skin, discovers a new wrinkle in the music, said choreographer and artistic director Patrick Parson.

TORONTO - Mozart called the organ the “king of instruments” for good reason, said Gordon Mansell, music director at Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Toronto. Beginning Dec. 7, Mansell intends on showcasing the instrument������Ƶapp beauty through a free lunchtime concert series running every Wednesday at the west-end parish.

“What happens in most parishes is that the organ is not used to its fullest potential so the people do not really have a good perspective on the instrument,” said Mansell. “So when they hear organ music played professionally… their every sense is engaged. It is quite an experience unlike any other.”

TORONTO - Canadians' support for the only Catholic university in the former Soviet Union — which was recently backed up by a $1.2 million donation from businessman James Temerty — sends a strong message that promotes democracy and religious freedom in Ukraine, said Fr. Borys Gudziak.

“After the Orange Revolution hit, we had very high hopes for fully democratic prospects of an independent Ukraine,” the rector at Ukrainian Catholic University told The Catholic Register while in Toronto as part of a six-week tour of Canada, the United States and some European countries.

“We have (since) turned towards authoritarianism and some politically motivated trials.”