Ontario bishops have papal audience

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged Ontario's Roman Catholic bishops to stand firm against Canada's legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion.

The bishops met with the pope at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, Catholic News Service reported. They had brief individual meetings with the pope this week in addition to Friday's group audience.

"The split between the Gospel and culture, with the exclusion of God from the public sphere" in Canada has divided social values from their moral foundation, the pope said, while praising the country's commitment to social justice.

Archbishop Michael Gervais told Catholic News Service that the bishops found a "new mood in the Vatican," a sense that officials are there to serve the wider church instead of preaching. Gervais and the Ontario bishops traveled to Italy for a meeting required of diocesan leaders every five years.