On August 15th, the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism moved its offices across Montréal to a new street-front address on Réné Lévesque Ouest. The new address is: 1819 boul. Réné Lévesque O., Montréal QC, H3H 2P5. All phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses will remain unchanged.

For many years, the CCE has been housed at the historic Grande Séminaire de Montréal. This was a natural fit in the early years of the Centre, which was established within the Catholic community. As the Centre's ministry has expanded it has found itself in need of greater space and visibility. By moving out of the seminary into a street-front office space, it is hoped that more visitors will drop in to the offices to discover the ministry that the Centre offers.

CATHOLIC WOMEN IN MINISTRY: Changing the Way Things Are, by Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers. Novalis (Montreal, QC ). © 2007, 216pp., $21.95. Reviewed by Gertrude Rompré.

"We read to know that we are not alone." These words are placed on the lips of C.S. Lewis in the movie, Shadowlands. Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers' latest contribution, Catholic Women in Ministry, indeed allows those involved in lay ecclesial ministry, particularly Canadian women, to know that "they are not alone." In a style marked by its readability, Ternier-Gommers, creates a conversation within a conversation between women currently involved in ministry, those potentially drawn to pastoral service and her own autobiography. In reading the text, one has the sense of sitting in a sunny, country kitchen chatting with one's sister(s) in ministry about those issues closest to one's heart.

• Since 1968, the Canadian Council of Churches has published an annual prayer service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
• Since the mid-twentieth century, the World Council of Churches has published an annual Week of Prayer service.
• Since 1908, the Octave of Christian Unity has been celebrated, and other forms of ecumenical prayer and worship as well.

The CCC needs back copies of these prayer services, and stories about celebrations before 1948. Please search your shelves, cupboards, attics, offices, for existing copies you might have. With your help, the CCC will put together a complete collection and produce an anthology of prayer services to help celebrate the centenary of the Octave of Christian Unity in 2008.

With suggestions or questions, please call Mary Marrocco or Karen Teasdale, Canadian Council of Churches, 416-972-9494 x23. Or email or .

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will publish a revised Lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities. This is the book of readings used in the public worship of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada. The revised lectionary is expected to be available next spring in order to be used for the beginning of the following liturgical season - Year B - starting 30 November 2008.

Canada is currently the only country where the Roman Catholic lectionary is based on the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, the copyright for which is held by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Other English-speaking Episcopal Conferences are now also considering the possibility.

Backgrounder on the recent recognitio for the revised Canadian Lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities

L'Arche Saskatoon Giant Garage Sale is Friday, August 24, 4 - 9pm, & Saturday. August 25, 8am - 3pm, at Grace Westminster United Church Hall (505 10th Street E, just west of Broadway Ave.). Please bring your donated items to Grace Westminster (East entrance) on Thurs. Aug. 23, 1 - 7pm, or Fri. Aug. 24, 9am - 1pm. Proceeds will go towards the first L'Arche home in Saskatoon for people with intellectual disabilities. For more information, call Hilary at 343-7371 or Robert at 374-5501.

The U.S. National Council of Churches is challenging the U.S. government's detention policy for prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The NCC joined the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Union for Reform Judaism, among others, in supporting two cases before the Supreme Court.

World and European ecumenical bodies express support and solidarity to the Ecumenical Patriarch

[WCC News] At a time when the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople - today's Istanbul - is facing growing hardships imposed by decisions of the Turkish judiciary, members of the worldwide ecumenical family have expressed support and solidarity to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

On 26 June a ruling by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals contested the ecumenical standing of the Patriarchate, stating that it is a religious body only authorized to perform religious functions for the Greek Orthodox minority in the country. The Court also ruled that the Patriarchate does not have any legal personality and that the Patriarch is not allowed to bear the title "ecumenical".

The ruling stated that the Patriarch as well as the Patriarchate officers are subjected to Turkish law regarding their titles and activities. On 21 August Bartholomew was summoned to testify before a prosecuting authority in Istanbul on his use of the title "Ecumenical" at a world conference of Orthodox youth that took place in the city a few weeks earlier.