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TORONTO - The end result for Erin O’Brien, a runner in this year������Ƶapp Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, is giving kids a chance in life.

As one of 200 runners who will be raising funds for the , O’Brien will be supporting underprivileged children and youth in poor conditions or foster care. Hope For Children, the fundraising arm of the (CCAS), is one of three featured charities in the Waterfront Marathon. In its fourth year of involvement with the race, CCAS hopes to enlist 200 runners like O’Brien to raise a total of $50,000.

TORONTO - There is a seminary with 1,100 men studying for the priesthood. Each year that one seminary turns out a graduating class of hundreds ready for ordination. Since it began with just six students in 1924, this seminary has produced more than 4,000 priests.

Though it may sound like fantasy to any North American Catholic who has visited the echoing halls of their own somewhat less populated seminaries, Bigard Memorial Seminary is a real place. And one of its former rectors believes it should be a resource for the entire Catholic Church, not only for the Metropolitan See of Onitsha in Eastern Nigeria.

TORONTO - After a decade of service as the director of deacons, Deacon Bert Cambre is leaving as head of the diaconate office following some internal restructuring in the archdiocese of Toronto.

Cambre������Ƶapp last day in office will be Aug. 31.

He leaves the office with many accomplishments under his belt.

TORONTO - When Torontonians speak about diversity, they tend to limit the discussion to spaghetti and souvlaki, Bollywood and butter chicken, says Rocco Rossi. But the Toronto mayoral candidate believes spiritual diversity should be included in the discussion as well.

“At the heart of that diversity are the many faiths and value systems which underpin the diverse groups that live and prosper in the city,” Rossi told The Catholic Register Aug. 16, day four of his faith tour of Toronto.

Linda Houston used to sleep on the streets. Years after her death, a charity walk named in her honour will be passing through the same Don Mills, Ont. streets she once called home.

On Sat. Aug. 14, the first-ever 5-km Linda's Walk will take place to help raise awareness for homeless women with mental issues. All proceeds will go directly to support the St. Clare Inn, a transitional housing project where women can "journey towards wellness"  that was created as a result of Linda's death in 2000.

TORONTO - For Toronto������Ƶapp Archbishop Thomas Collins the fate of Iraqi Christians trapped in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon isn’t just another tough case in an unfair world full of too much heartbreak. For him, this one is personal.

Collins has written to his fellow bishops across Canada about the fate of Iraqi Christian refugees, asking them to encourage refugee sponsorship in their dioceses. He has urged pastors in Toronto to get their parishes involved in sponsoring refugees.

But it������Ƶapp more than words. He������Ƶapp also sponsoring a refugee family himself.

Elders and survivors took centre stage at Toronto's Hiroshima Day at the Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square.

They're asking world leaders to achieve nuclear disarmament before the generation that saw the first atomic weapon is gone.

Photos and commentary by Michael Swan

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MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - Hubert Krampert's 40-year run in bringing The Catholic Register to the residents of Mississauga Lifecare Centre has come to an end.

TORONTO - The very last day in the life of the old Nathan Phillips Square Peace Garden will commemorate the 65th anniversary of the first use of an atomic weapon on a civilian population.

Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, Hiroshima atom bomb survivors Setsuko Thurlow and Joe Ohori, Juno Award nominee Tom Barlow, the Yakudo Drummers and other community groups will be featured Aug. 6 at the 65th anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki. Aug. 7 the city will begin decommissioning the old Peace Garden.

TORONTO - For nearly 30 years, Romeo Meleca has shared Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross each time he has made his yearly 240-km trek to the Holy Cross of Teopoli in Gravenhurst, Ont.

“I’m always thinking, when I have pain, I think of God, (of) Jesus dying, nailed on the cross. I want to do more and more for Him,” Meleca said, sporting his trademark red banner, a pilgrimage shirt and hat. During the walk, he also carries a wooden cross adorned with a red banner.