Mass in French

The Pawtuxet Valley Franco-American Heritage Festival Committee welcomes the public to join them for the celebration of a Mass in French tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6 St. Vincent de Paul St., Coventry. The Rev. Paul Laporte will be the celebrant and homilist.

‘Miracle Service’

Evangelist Benny Hinn will conduct what he calls a “Holy Spirit Miracle Service” tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the D.C. Youth Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester. The event is free and doors open at noon.

French-Canadian religious music

Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, the official choir of Saint Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, will present a mini-concert of French-Canadian religious music at St. Ann Art & Culture Center, 84 Cumberland St., Woonsocket, Tuesday, at 2 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. A free-will donation to the St. Ann’s Art & Culture Center will be accepted.

The choir will also provide the music for the patronal feast day liturgy at the SS. Peter & Paul Cathedral, 30 Fenner St., Providence, on Sunday, June 29, at 10 a.m.

Protest against torture

June has been designated as a month of protest against torture by several national and international religious groups, including the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture and the Quaker Initiative to End Torture.

Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, an international group based in France, will be holding a rotating prayer vigil beginning next Saturday at 8 p.m. and continuing through Sunday, June 29, at 8 a.m.

People around the globe are asked to pledge 15 minutes of time in prayer for the victims of torture during that time period. Pax Christi and the Providence Monthly Meeting of Friends, or Quakers, are participating in that prayer vigil, and are inviting all to join them from 8 to 9 p.m. next Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Walcott Street, Pawtucket.

Religious response to global warming

Channing Memorial Church of Newport, which has been in an informal participating relationship with Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light for the past year, has officially voted through its board to join the 18-month-old organization.

Founded in January of 2007, the organization is part of a nationwide network of 4,000 congregations dedicated to crafting a religious response to global warming. Their activities range from working to get energy audits for Rhode Island’s houses of worship to lobbying at the federal level for passage of climate-change legislation. Currently, about 50 congregations have been represented in RI-IPL activities or have formally joined the organization. For more information, call (401) 268-3833 or visit www.riipl.org.

Knights set giving records

The Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest lay Catholic organization, announced recently that it set new all-time records for charitable giving and volunteer service hours in 2007.

The results of the organization’s Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for 2007 show that total contributions to charity at all levels reached $144,911,781, exceeding the previous year’s total by more $1 million. The figure includes $31,235,220 donated by the Supreme Council as well as $113,676,561 in charitable donations from state and local councils, Fourth Degree assemblies and squire circles.