Walkerville businessman Vito Maggio bought the former Anglican church -- built in 1921 and 1955 at 1949 Devonshire Ct. -- with plans to replace it with three homes that "co-ordinate with the whole neighbourhood."

Maggio, who owns Vito's Pizzeria and O'Maggio's Kildare House, purchased St. George's for $250,000. The plan is to build three homes in the 3,000-5,000-square-foot range with price tags between $600,000 and $800,000.

Bishops and deputies will gather this July in Austin, Texas for the triennial governing convention. A multi-year process of revising the church's Book of Common Prayer, last revised in 1979, is widely expected to begin at this gathering.

A Globe and Mail reporter interviewed the couple before they were put down, and the family was well aware of their plans. There were apparently no efforts at suicide prevention.

The first time the couple asked to be killed, their doctor -- a pro-euthanasia advocate -- approved both their deaths. But the second-opinion MD refused to certify because the husband did not have a diagnosed condition. So, the couple carried on for another year.

The Archbishops said that the present constitutional provision "has proved less than satisfactory in some respects" and had suggested a possible constitutional modification. But they say the government's proposals go too far in legalising unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.