Porn vs. Catholic mass -- what should Telus choose?

Telus Corp. (TSX:T, NYSE:TU) shares had a 52-week return of nearly 29% in New York and over 31% in Toronto, despite being hammered over 10% due to Canadian legislation that required income trusts to pay taxes like corporations. Now Telus, Canada's second-biggest telephone company, might have to choose between losing its Catholic Church contract or losing revenue from providing adult content.

Telus is the first wireless company in North America that signed contracts with providers of adult material. While adult content is freely accessible by all companies, Telus claims that this way, it is providing it in a safe, secure and legal manner. The company has started doing so after discovering that half of the top 25 web sites accessed by its customers are adult sites.

The details about the archdiocese's contracts with Telus weren't provided, but regardless, Catholics in general are unhappy. Archbishops are actually going to discuss this with schools and parishes, and followers may boycott Telus should the Archbishop cancel services. In a country where a third of the population is Roman Catholic, this could present itself as a problem.