Pope Francis appealed on Sunday (May 17th) for an end to the violence in Burundi and urged its people to act responsibly for the good of the nation. Burundi saw an attempted coup earlier this week and has been the scene of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the president. The Pope’s appeal for ...read more

Pope Francis canonized four women religious on Sunday, all 19th century nuns who worked in education. St. Marie-Alphonsine and St. Mary of Jesus Crucified were from the territory that made up historical Palestine; St. Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve was a French nun and foundress; and St. Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception came from Italy. Below, ...read more

I was at the March for Life last Thursday, on the day that most places around the world celebrated the Feast of the Ascension. Here in Canada we celebrate it today, the Sunday after the 6th Sunday in Easter. After the March, as I was reflecting about it, I started thinking about how the life ...read more

For an institution that still uses smoke signals to communicate the election of a new leader one wonders how the Church will respond to the challenges of the digital age? When I reflect on this topic, I can’t help but remember when the good old Pope Benedict launched News.va. That’s right, in case you’ve forgotten, ...read more

Here is some of what has been happening in dioceses across the country this week: In Vancouver a group of kids are showing adults how to put their faith into action. In his weekly reflection Fr. Ron Rolheiser explains why he believes we should be praying for other Christian Churches during our Mass. In London, ...read more

Caritas Internationalis began its general assembly in Rome this week. The keynote speaker for the weeklong meeting is Father Gustavo Gutierrez, the Peruvian priest commonly considered the “father” of Liberation Theology. At a press conference before the start of the meeting Fr. Gutierrez spoke about why the Church and Caritas devote attention and resources to ...read more

Cheridan and Sebastian pose with Cardinal George at his residence following an interview for The Church Alive series in 2012. It’s been one month since the death of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and personal stories and reflections continue to be shared across the media by people all over the world who either knew him or ...read more

Welcome to S+L’s Weekly News Round-Up. As the Director of Marketing and Communications here at S+L, many interesting Catholic news stories and articles come across my desk on a daily basis. Some of them we’ll cover on our different television programs and others I’d like to share with you on this blog. This blog column ...read more

Don Bosco is bigger than the Salesians and his 200th birthday is being celebrated beyond the Congregation. Evidence of this is everywhere in Turin where festive tribute is offered to her most celebrated son. A travel brochure issued by the city of Turin reads thus: Turin welcomes the many pilgrims who reach and visit its ...read more

At 5:00 pm, during the sixth Tuesday of Easter, Pope Francis celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica, a Holy Mass for the occassion of the 20th Caritas Internationalis General Assembly Opening on the theme: One Human Family, Caring for Creation, (Rome, 12-17 May 2015).Below you will find the Holy Father’s homily: The reading from the Acts of the ...read more