Before departing for Sri Lanka on Monday, Pope Francis delivered his annual address to the diplomatic corps, providing an occasion for reflection on the matter of politics and the Church and more specifically—in light of the recent revelation of Vatican involvement in the easing of USA-Cuba relations—on the Catholic Church’s role in global politics. 2014 ...read more

Point of View: Interpreting the Francis Effect is a S+L series that goes deeper into the important questions surrounding the person and pontificate of Pope Francis.  The series consists of a selection of the full interviews from S+L’s original documentary The Francis Effect. This week: Alison Smith Alison Smith is a renowned and highly respected ...read more

The Director of Jesuit Refugee Services in Syria, Fr. Nawras Sammour, SJ visited Toronto last week to speak about the ongoing civil war and refugee crisis plaguing his home country. The event, which was co-hosted by Canadian Jesuits International and Development and Peace, was held at the Jesuit parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in ...read more

Historically speaking, the church had to take root somewhere. When in the early 30’s AD Jesus of Nazareth was executed, rose from the dead and sent his Spirit to be with his little band of disciples, Rome was the dominant political and social player. Peter and Paul brought the faith to Rome before being executed ...read more

At Salt and Light, we make a concerted effort to keep alive the memory of the Second Vatican Council. It’s not, as some might think, because we appreciate history. It’s because we look to the future. Those Catholics who are familiar with the history and context of Vatican II and with the sixteen official documents ...read more

One of the differences between The Church Alive and other S+L series is that it wasn’t filmed in our own studios.  Admittedly, from the outset Cheridan and I succumbed to the “go big or go home” syndrome, because we were convinced that any serious attempt to appeal to young people and non-Catholics meant being visually ...read more

How do you take the timeless truths of the Gospel and present them in new ways to the world of the 21st century?  Our new series The Church Alive seeks to start a discussion around that question.  But it’s not just about raising questions; we didn’t want to keep the New Evangelization in the philosophic ...read more

Protruding from the mountainside town of Assisi is the medieval Basilica of Saint Francis. From a distance the basilica looks almost as big as the town itself; a simultaneous testament to the Saint’s widespread influence and modest origins. Still, the basilica is what most moderns would expect from an important medieval church: majesty, stunning architecture ...read more

Regardless of background, ethnicity or faith tradition, almost everyone in our society today would argue that education is important.  We all acknowledge that becoming an “educated” person is worthwhile.  We spend a huge portion of our earnings and savings (or all of them and more!) on achieving that goal.  But, what does it mean to ...read more

Perched on the side of a mountain in the central Italian province of Umbria is the historic town of Assisi, best known as the hometown of St. Francis, one of Christianity’s most revered saints. I’ve spoken to many visitors to Assisi over the past few years – especially since Cardinal Bergoglio was elected pope and ...read more