In his fifth apostolic journey outside of the European continent, Pope Francis will visit Cuba and the United States of America, marking his longest trip thus far. He will spend 3 days on the largest and westernmost island of the West Indies, followed by a 5-day visit to the American East. In a series of articles, I will introduce the places that will be visited by the Pope from the perspectives of a Catholic pilgrim. Today, let us travel to Cuba first. ...read more

James W. Foley, the American journalist and war correspondent that was the first American beheaded by ISIS in August, 2014, once said: “Drop a pebble in the water: Just a splash, and it is gone; But there’s half-a-hundred ripples Circling on and on and on, Spreading, spreading from the center, Flowing on out to the ...read more

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about across the country: One Ukrainian seminarian travelled a long way to be ordained a deacon and continue his journey to priesthood. In Prince Albert, Saskatchewan two other men weathered life’s unexpected twists and turns before realizing their callings to the permanent diaconate. August is the ...read more

Husbands and wives are called to love each other as God loves us. Last week I asked if this is even possible. We spoke about the story of the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) and the story of Tobias and Sarah from the Book of Tobit, both popular Wedding readings. Both these stories teach us a ...read more

Following the conclusion of Pope Francis’ morning visit to the pediatric hostipal ‘Niños de Acosta Ñu’ in Asunción, the Holy Father departed to the Marian Shrine of Caacupé to ??celebrate the Mass. Before entering the Basilica, where he was to venerate the “Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepcion de los Milagros”, he received the keys of the city ...read more

Welcome to S+L’s Weekly News Round-Up. As the Director of Marketing and Communications here at S+L, many interesting Catholic news stories and articles come across my desk on a daily basis. Some of them we’ll cover on our different television programs and others I’d like to share with you on this blog. This blog column ...read more

In his Angelus address on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God – which is also observed as World Day of Peace – Pope Francis called on us “to fix our gaze of faith and of love on the Mother of Jesus.” Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis’ address at the ...read more

In the Jubilee Year of 2000, John Paul II made a very insightful statement.  He said: “Our Christian witness would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated the face of the Lord.”  The same might be said of our fully entering into the Christmas season. Christmas is a time in which we ...read more

The man who designed the European Union flag, Arsène Heitz, was inspired by scripture and the image of Mary on the Miraculous Medal. While he never hid the fact that the flag he designed is “Our Lady’s flag”, the European Union itself has offered different explanations for the evocative design. The flag, and the EU ...read more

A Doubly Beautiful Feast On this feast we, as Catholics, commemorate when our Lady dedicated herself to God entirely. One of the best quotes that illustrate the beauty of the presentation of Mary can be found on americancatholic.org. It says,   “Even though the feast has no basis in history, it stresses an important truth ...read more