May 8, 2006 -- Twenty Canadian church leaders, representing the member churches of the Canadian Council of Churches, have appealed to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to promptly announce six new initiatives in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The sweeping measures the church leaders want include cancellation of debts owed by countries with HIV/AIDS rates above 1.1 per cent of the population and amendments to Canadian legislation to facilitate the export of medicines.

The church leaders also ask for a meeting with the Prime Minister before he speaks to a UN group at the end of the month.

The full text of the letter is available at www.ccc-cce.ca/english/home/2006/may8_2006.htm. The letter is also available in French.

Le 8 mai 2006 -- Vingt dirigeants d'églises canadiens, représentant les membres du Conseil canadien des églises, ont fait appel au premier ministre Stephen Harper pour annoncer promptement six nouvelles initiatives dans le combat contre le VIH/SIDA.

Les mesures rapides que les dirigeants d'églises veulent incluent l'annulation des dettes ont dû par pays avec des taux de VIH/SIDA au-dessus de 1.1 pour cent de la population et d'amendements à la législation canadienne pour faciliter l'exportation des médecines.

Les dirigeants d'églises demandent également une réunion avec le premier ministre avant qu'il parle à un groupe de l'ONU à la fin du mois.

Le texte intégral de la lettre est disponible chez www.ccc-cce.ca/francais/home/2006/may8_2006.htm. La lettre est également disponible en anglais.

Nidus is a festival for people from all streams of Christian faith with music, arts, keynotes, worship, dialogue, drama & dance. Several thousand youth, young adults, families and others will gather in Kitchener, Ontario from August 4th to 6th. It will be a unique opportunity for people to come together to express faith, celebrate through arts and seek justice to stop AIDS.

Nidus is a grassroots Christian multidisciplinary arts festival convened to explore diverse expressions of creativity, faith, service and justice. By bringing people together to share in a broad spectrum of expressions of Christian faith and art, we seek to further Christian unity in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nidus is sponsored by the Canadian Council of Churches. For further information, visit the official Nidus website at www.nidus.ca.

In his address to a gathering of ecumenical leaders in Warsaw on May 25, Pope Benedict XVI has expressed strong support for pastoral care of interchurch families. Speaking to the Polish Council for Ecumenism and leaders of other religious groups, Benedict encouraged the work of a bilateral commission of the Catholic bishops' conference and the Polish Council for Ecumenism which is drafting a document on marriage and family life, on interdenominational marriages, and on joint pastoral care of families.

Highlighting the ecumenical potential of Christians marrying across denominational barriers, Benedict said: "The decision [to enter an interchurch marriage] can lead to the formation of a practical laboratory of unity. For this to happen there is need for mutual goodwill, understanding and maturity of faith in both partners, and also in the communities from which they come. ... My wish is that in this delicate area, reciprocal trust and cooperation between the churches may grow, fully respecting the rights and responsibilities of the spouses for the faith formation of their own family and the education of their children."

Thursday May 25 to Saturday May 27, 2006 at Queen's House of Retreats (601 Taylor St. West, Saskatoon)

Have you ever gone to a service at a different church and wondered what it was all about? Wished that there were someone to explain why they did what they did? Ever wondered about the private prayer life of Christians of other traditions?

The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism will be hosting a very special retreat this summer, perhaps a unique event in Canada. Pastors and members of three very different church traditions – the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Mennonite Church Saskatchewan and the Foursquare Gospel Church – will spend three days together sharing their treasures of corporate worship and private devotion. Each worship session will be led by a member of the tradition to which it belongs, with explanations of the service's meaning and time for questions. In addition we will be introduced to ways of private prayer and devotion characteristic of these traditions, with explanations and private time in which to 'try out' different types of prayer for ourselves.

The retreat will run from Thursday suppertime until Saturday afternoon, to enable clergy and lay people to attend. It will not be a silent retreat, though parts of the house will be reserved for silent prayer. Individual spiritual guidance is available on request.

Costs: $175 live-in, $150 commuters. Please register with Queen's House directly (tel. 306-242-1916) by May 10 to ensure the viability of this event. If you would like more information about the retreat, contact the PCE at (306) 653-1633. This event will be held in lieu of the 2006 Summer Ecumenical Institute.

A registration form and brochure is available online at ecumenism.net/sei/2006_sei_retreat.pdf.

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all...Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." (1 Corinthians 12: 4-7)