Welcome to the newest feature on the Salt + Light blog: our Week in Review featuring a rundown of Canadian stories about and from the church…with the occasional international story for good measure. In Regina, Archbishop Daniel Bohan is in talks with church officials in Vietnam about how the archdiocese can help Vietnamese seminarians become ...read more

This week was big in many ways: Pope Francis made some significant appointments, including naming his personal secretary to the number two position at the newly created Secretariat for the Economy. Wednesday was the beginning of Lent and Pope Francis’ first Ash Wednesday liturgy as pontiff. It was also the day one the Italian newspaper ...read more

Below is Pope Francis’ message to the faithful for Lent, 2014. Dear Brothers and Sisters, As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: “For you know the grace of our ...read more

  Following the first consistory of Pope Francis’ pontificate the first major overhaul of the Roman Curia was revealed. Pope Francis created the Secretariat for the Economy and appointed Australian Cardinal George Pell as the prefect of the new secretariat. This new body will oversee the finances of all Vatican departments, carry out budgeting and ...read more

On This week’s Vatican Connections we look at the long-awaited beatification decree for Archbishop Oscar Romero. We talk to Father Frank Desiderio, a Paulist priest who worked with the producer of the 1989 film about the martyr, and we look at the reaction of Salvadoreans who have long referred to their slain archbishop as “el ...read more

When Fr. Han Lim Moon is ordained to the episcopate on May 4 he will make history. Bishop Elect Moon will become Auxiliary Bishop for San Martin, Argentina.. He will be the first South Korean-born prelate to be appointed to the episcopate outside his native country. It will also be the first time an Asian-born ...read more

Today on Perspectives: Pope Francis knows the Santa Marta Masses have become a bit of a hot ticket in Rome, but says Mass it should not be, Mass is not a social event. Pope Francis also accepted an invitation to visit Sri Lanka. In Canada, Antigonish, Nova Scotia takes the next step in healing after ...read more

This week Pope Francis released two special messages: his message for Lent, and a message for World Youth Day. Lent begins on March 5 this year and World Youth Day will be celebrated at the diocesan level on April 13, which is also Palm Sunday. The full text of the Pope’s Lenten message is published ...read more

ByEzra Fieser Catholic News Service SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CNS) — Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes Solorzano of Managua, Nicaragua, joined his mother to listen to the public announcement that Pope Francis was elevating him to the College of Cardinals. Cardinal-designate Brenes told reporters Jan. 12 he “wanted to cry and to be grateful to the Virgin, ...read more

The week started off with a shocking theft, the recovery of the stolen item (in multiple installments) the announcement of a new book that is already getting a mixed reception, an audience with an American University, the announcement that several people are moving closer to sainthood….and it closed with the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of ...read more