CCCB President Archbishop Richard Smith congratulates Cardinal-designate Collins on the announcement that the Holy Father has elevated him to the dignity of Cardinal of the Church of Rome. Below find his official statement: As President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, it is a great joy for me, on behalf of all the Bishops ...read more

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the announcement that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, elevated His Grace, Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, to the College of Cardinals, an international group of principal advisors to the Pontiff: The appointment of Thomas Collins to the College of Cardinals is a great honour ...read more

Tonight on Perspectives: The Weekly Edition, join Pedro Guevara Mann as he speaks with Rabbi Baruch Frydman-Kohl, Senior Rabbi of Beth Tzedec Congregation, Rev. Dr. Karen A. Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches and Rev. Damian MacPherson, SA, director of the Office of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs of the Archdiocese of Toronto, on the challenges ...read more

With any announcement of a consistory comes a flurry of media activity around the new Cardinal-designates. In New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan appeared on NBC’s morning show with Matt Lauer in what is probably one of the Cardinal-designate’s most memorable interviews. ...read more

Pope Benedict gathered the faithful earlier today at St. Peter’s Square, where he proclaimed the Angelus. In a special announcement following the Angelus, he announced the appointment of 22 new Cardinals, including Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins. A consistory will be held at the Vatican Feb. 18 and 19.   ...read more

Above is Pope Benedict’s homily, as delivered at Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. ...read more

By now you’ve heard the great news for the Canadian Church: Toronto’s Archbishop has been named a Cardinal. All the local and national news outlets have been covering the story, including the CBC’s six minute phone interview with Archbishop Thomas Collins this morning. The Pope made the announcement following the celebration of Mass and the ...read more

When we speak about the distribution of gifts on Christmas most think of Santa Claus as the ‘bearer of gifts’,  in my Portuguese Catholic tradition I was raised with the notion that the  gifts were being distributed by the Baby Jesus. And in Spain, the distribution of gifts is celebrated on the evening of Epiphany ...read more

What’s the difference between saying, ‘We come to pray together’ and ‘We come together to pray’? What is the difference between proselytizing, evangelizing and dialogue? Do these actions mutually exclude each other? These are some of the questions most people have when it comes to interfaith dialogue. It quickly becomes about fine distinctions and nuanced ...read more

On the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe Pope Benedict XVI announced he will visit Mexico and Cuba in 2012.  Today the Mexican Bishops’ Conference and the Cuban Bishops’ conference each released a preliminary itinerary of the Holy Father’s visit to their nations. Pope Benedict will arrive in the Mexican city of  Leon on ...read more