Three more Anglican congregations voted today to accept the offer of episcopal oversight of Bishop Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC), under the Primatial authority of Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. All three churches accepted this offer with strong majorities. Since this offer of episcopal oversight was first extended in late November 2007, 15 parishes and congregations have voted to accept the offer and join ANiC.

This means that these congregations are requesting spiritual care from and will come under the authority of Bishop Harvey and Archbishop Venables, rather than their former Anglican Church in Canada diocese and bishop who are walking away from established Christian teaching and globally recognized Anglican doctrine.

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While orthodox Anglicans are in a minority in Canada, they are in the majority worldwide. What is happening in Canada is part of a much bigger controversy in Anglican churches globally.

Beyond the theological debate that has triggered those votes is a decidedly secular question: Who gets the property if a congregation splits with its leadership?

The leadership of the Niagara diocese did not wait long to move on that question, serving legal papers on Wednesday to gain possession of the property of St. George's Church in Lowville, Ont., and St. Hilda's in Oakville, Ont.

The Anglican Network in Canada, representing the dissident parishes, is questioning why the diocese acted so quickly. "It is not as if the building is getting up and moving anywhere," said Cheryl Chang, a director and a lawyer.

She said Anglican officials in British Columbia are moving much slower, agreeing to a cooling-off period during which time they will not discipline two priests at a Victoria-area congregation that voted last weekend to break from the national church.

However, Michael Patterson, an official with the Niagara diocese said the dissident parishioners and the Anglican Network were well aware of the likelihood of legal action, adding that they had brought along lawyers during a meeting in December. "This is not out of the blue," said Mr. Patterson, executive officer of the diocese.

The position of the diocese is that the dissident parishioners are simply a number of individuals leaving the church and so have no claim to the property; the parishioners say the congregation is the church, and therefore has a right to the church.

The Southern Cone takes a conservative position on more than just the issue of blessing same-sex unions - it also does not allow women to serve as priests, a position that conflicts with the position of both sides of the debate in Canada.

And that might seem particularly awkward for St. Chad's [in Toronto] - headed by Rev. Barbara Richardson, who supports the split with the national church. However, she and other dissident Anglicans say there is no parallel between the debate over female ordination three decades ago and today's clash over same-sex marriage. Besides, she said, the Southern Cone will not demand that the breakaway parishes stop ordaining women. "We still have our own rules," she said.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), met officials from the United Nations, the U.S. embassy and the U.S. military in central Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

"She's here in her official capacity to talk to government officials, the military and the United Nations about Iraq's refugees and displaced persons," Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Baghdad, told Reuters.

Jolie also visited Iraq last August, when she went to a makeshift camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) and met Iraqi refugees in Damascus, capital of neighboring Syria.

She said she wanted more information about IDPs and to discuss the problem with the Iraqi government, U.S. officials and aid workers, as well as to meet local Iraqis.

"There are over 2 million internally displaced people and there doesn't seem to be a real coherent plan to help them," Jolie told CNN. "There's lots of goodwill and lots of discussion but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces need to be put together," she said.

Canada has indicated it has no plans to change its approach to those seeking refugee status. Marina Wilson, a spokesperson for the federal department of Citizenship and Immigration, says it will continue to treat their cases individually and was unaware of any plans to set up a program specifically for Iraqis.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley has declined to be interviewed on the matter, but a spokesperson for her office indicated Canada is expecting "additional" referrals from the UNHCR this year. None have materialized so far, however.

Last year, only 177 Iraqi claims of refugee status made it to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board. Neighbouring Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, on the other hand, have been swamped with people fleeing the war.

"The bottom line is that this crisis has far surpassed the ability of regional neighbours to cope," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada. "UN agencies are strained beyond capacity as well. And the wider response of the international community, including Canada, for a humanitarian crisis that was after all provoked by an international armed conflict, has been, to say the least, woefully and shamefully inadequate."

Elizabeth McWeeny, president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said Canadians are ready to sponsor more refugees.

"The Canadian people have always played an important role in Canada's response to refugees," she said, "and we are here today to tell you that we are receiving a strong message from the grassroots about the strong desire of Canadians in many parts of Canada to contribute to a generous response to Iraqi refugees."