World Youth Day pilgrims started pouring into Madrid last week, many taking part in the Days of the Diocese before the global event officially began on Tuesday. But one important pilgrim was still missing–Pope Benedict XVI. This morning at 6am ET (1pm local time), the papal plane touched down at the Madrid Barajas International Airport. Upon ...read more

This afternoon Salt + Light brings you another WYD exclusive: a panel discussion on “Religious Freedom and the Media”. The event took place earlier today in Madrid at the Love and Life Site, which is being hosted by the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life. The high-profile panel features Archbishop Charles Chaput, the ...read more

While this year’s World Youth Day is being hosted by Spain, Canadians held the distinction of holding the first official event. On Tuesday morning, a special national gathering was held at Palacio de Deportes, better known as the Love and Life Site. The prayer service, organized by Salt + Light’s Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, featured ...read more

The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, preached the following homily at the Opening Mass of World Youth Day 2011. My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord 1. Welcome to Madrid for the XXVI World Youth Day announced by our Holy Father Benedict XVI in Sydney three years ago and today begins ...read more

Five minutes is a short time to explain the current diplomatic impasse between Beijing and the Vatican. When I interviewed the Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong on the August 1st edition of Perspectives Daily, he concisely summarized the state of the relationship: it’s at a new beginning, but it may get worse before it gets ...read more

For the World Youth Day pilgrim, being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of fellow Catholics for Mass will be a taste of Heaven. If one picks up an intestinal illness, however, the crowded Cuatro Vientos air base (the expansive site of the vigil and closing Mass), will provide a very different experience. With that in ...read more

The Church is mobilizing to help Eastern Africa, which continues to face its worst famine since the 1950s. Severe drought and years of conflict have resulted in failed crops and acute shortages in food and water. More than 10 million face starvation. The famine has triggered a mass movement of refugees, particularly from Somalia to ...read more

Immigration is not a problem but an opportunity, says the Archbishop of Los Angeles. This afternoon Archbishop José H. Gomez addressed delegates at the business session of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention. He criticized current U.S. immigration policy as not being “worthy of our national character”. The Archbishop stressed that he was speaking from ...read more

On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI responded to the terror attacks in Norway that killed 76. In his message after praying the Angelus, he reiterated his “heartfelt appeal to abandon forever the ways of violence and to shun the logic of evil”. Bishop Pierre Morissette, president of the Canadian episcopal conference, released the following statement today, ...read more

The so-called staycation is becoming a popular option for many. It’s considerably more affordable to spend a week off in your own home, enjoying cultural activities you’ve never made time for or completing long-neglected household tasks. And doesn’t a morning spent reading the newspaper at the neighbourhood café sound more relaxing than preparing for travel? ...read more