As the eyes of the world turn to Vancouver to see who will fly higher, finish with the fastest time, break the most records and win the most medals, the eyes of Salt+Light have turned to the Vancouver Olympics to see how the Church is rising to this unprecedented occasion. It turns out the entire ...read more

February 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Forty days after his birth the Law of Moses required Mary to go to the temple and take part in the ritual for purification. This was also the day Mary and Joseph formally introduced Jesus to the House of God. In 1997 Pope John ...read more

Like many other Canadians, I spent my Friday night watching a star studded fundraising telethon for the people of Haiti. I found myself moved by the stories being sent back from correspondents on the ground and from aid workers who have been in the country since just after the quake hit. One thing struck me ...read more

Yesterday was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, one more event in what Pope Benedict XVI calls “the manifestation cycle.” To celebrate the feast Pope Benedict celebrated a very special Mass. Unlike the other Masses he presides over, this one was held in the magnificent Sistine Chapel and there were 14 very important ...read more

Just before Christmas a British record label released a CD called Alma Mater. The CD features clips of Pope Benedict himself speaking at various events. Those clips of Pope Benedict were woven into beautiful pieces of Gregorian chant, sung by the Philharmonic Academy of Rome, accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. No small task considering ...read more

Although the Canadian Church moved the official celebration of the Epiphany to the first Sunday of January, the Universal Church still celebrates the feast on January 6th. In Rome today, Pope Benedict XVI marked the solemnity with Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and gave a homily reflecting on the significance of the Magi, or the ...read more

You may have heard that Pope Benedict XVI recently released a CD… sort of. Geffen Records, with the help of Vatican Radio, produced an album of Marian chants and Lauretan Litanies. Woven into the music are clips of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Mary. The second to last track on the CD is actually built around ...read more

Tomorrow, December 8th, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It marks the day in 1854 that Pope Pius IX declared the Catholic Church believes Mary was concieved free from Original Sin. In many countries it is a holy day of obligation and in many parts of the world it is also a public holiday. ...read more

Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are three locations that evoke images of exotic foreign lands. It’s certainly off the usual travel route for most North Americans and it’s not every day we here at S+L read those names in the Vatican’s daily press bulletin. Today, however, the Holy See appointed a Papal Nuncio to those three ...read more

In his Angelus Address this past Sunday Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the feast of All Saints and linked it to a very visible Roman landmark. Originally a pagan temple, the Pantheon was dedicated to all Roman gods. Marcus Agrippa, a consul in Rome, had the temple built in 27 B.C. The temple was caught ...read more