Douglas Todd
Douglas Todd is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Douglas Todd
NEWS STORY: Top Anglican, Catholic Bishops Meet on Unity
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) A historic meeting of the world’s top Anglican and Catholic bishops, set to begin Sunday (May 14) in Toronto, could be a major step toward the eventual healing of the 500-year-old rift between the two church bodies. The first-ever gathering of 26 high-level Anglican and Catholic bishops, including Archbishop […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Spiritual World of Harry Potter
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Literature instructor Carolyn Whitney-Brown was first drawn to Harry Potter by an 8-year-old girl who was struggling with leukemia. The Toronto girl, faced with the prospect of early death, found a kindred soul in the boy wizard who is forced to come to terms with mortal danger, the slaying […]
NEWS FEATURE: Canadian Theologians, Ethicists Consider “Just’‘Fishing
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) What would Plato, Buddha and Jesus do about the world’s dwindling fish stocks? No joke. A Canadian government research body, with the support of religious groups, has just spent more than $150,000 finding an answer to this unusual question. Their surprising conclusions may provide a model for resolving the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Jain restaurant wins kosher label
By Douglas Todd — December 20, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ At first glance, Mahendra Shah, a follower of the Jain religion and owner of the Surat Sweet Restaurant here, and Orthodox Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum, an inspector for British Columbia Kosher, may seem like something of a spiritual odd couple. But they have something in common _ […]
NEWS STORY: Canada’s religious newspapers under government scrutiny
By Douglas Todd — March 13, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Four major Canadian Catholic newspapers say their future is in jeopardy after the federal government told them this week they no longer deserve a postal subsidy because they fail to meet Canadian-content regulations. The National Catholic Register, with a circulation of 20,000; the British Columbia Catholic, with a […]
NEWS STORY: Church bells, drums to mark millennium in Canada
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ A sound wave of church bells will begin on the Atlantic coast at noon on Jan. 1, 2000, and roll across Canada’s time zones to conclude with a crescendo of Haida drumming on the Pacific Coast. The cross-country “joyful noise” is one of the special ways […]
NEWS STORY: Canadian Anglican prelate will defer blessing same-sex unions
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ The Anglican bishop of Vancouver, acknowledging pressure, says he will postpone blessing same-sex unions in his diocese until at least 2001. Bishop Michael Ingham, who is emerging as an international leader of the pro-gay movement in the Anglican church, spent eight months consulting with church leaders […]
NEWS FEATURE: Sex abuse suits by native Indians in Canada threaten churches, government
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ The rising tide of native Indian lawsuits over residential schools is creating an impossible situation, according to Canadian government officials, church leaders and even some native Indians themselves. It has reached the point where Indians who never set foot in a residential school are suing for […]
NEWS STORY: Union resists Salvation Army demand for ‘lifestyl’ clause
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ The Salvation Army is following the lead of the Canadian Roman Catholic church and threatening to shut down one of its operations unless its unionized staff agrees to a”Christian lifestyle”code requiring them to shun pornography, refuse to gamble and avoid sex outside marriage. The British Columbia […]
NEWS STORY: Canadian Christian group seeks to trademark menorah symbol
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ The Canadian Jewish Congress is battling to stop a Christian missionary group from registering a stylized Jewish menorah as its official trademark. The CJC challenged the trademark application last Friday (Jan. 8) in Ottawa after finding out Chosen People Ministries, which tries to convert Jews to Christianity, has […]
NEWS STORY: Canadian church leader wants debate on capitalism
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ The head of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination has officially kicked off what he hopes will become a national debate on capitalism by saying too many people worship the market economy as a God that will solve everything. United Church Moderator Bill Phipps told a Toronto-based teleconference March 11 […]
NEWS STORY: Canada’s Anglican primate seeking way to save church in wake of lawsuits
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ Canadian Primate Michael Peers will devote a four-month sabbatical to studying how to save his 800,000-member Anglican church and restructure it in light of a flood of financially devastating lawsuits from native Indians who attended church-run residential schools. The Anglican church leader is also reassuring worried […]
NEWS STORY: Canada’s Catholic bishops challenge same-sex benefits proposals
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Canada’s Roman Catholic Church has told the federal government that, if it is seriously considering extending pension benefits to same-sex couples, it should bestow them upon anyone living together in a long-term, dependent relationship. In a letter sent Jan. 27 to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the chair of […]
NEWS FEATURE: Ombudsman: British Columbia owes Doukhobors apology, compensation
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service NEW DENVER, British Columbia _ Kathleen Makortoff dabs her eye as she walks up to a rusting section of chain-link fence. Four decades ago, Makortoff struggled to kiss her shell-shocked parents through this same high fence. Her mom and dad were Sons of Freedom Doukhobors, members of the most radical […]
NEWS STORY: Canadian agency faults Focus on the Family over program on gays
By Douglas Todd — January 1, 1998
c. 1998 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ One of the largest Christian ministries in North America has been rebuked by Canada’s broadcast ethics watchdog for airing allegedly questionable commentary about homosexuals. The Focus on the Family show, which airs on hundreds of radio stations in Canada and more than 2,300 in the United […]
