BLOG: Fr. Raphael Ma, CR
(Vatican Radio)  The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Tuesday before going on to address a conference exploring the moral issues connected to climate change. The one day international symposium has been organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and will include a video message to participants ...read more
Today on Perspectives, Pope Francis appoints members to a new Vatican Commission for Communications, the Holy Father meets with the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission and a special concert coming to the Vatican. ...read more
Point of View: Interpreting the Francis Effect is a S+L series that goes deeper into the 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.  Find the full schedule for Season 2 of POV here. Tonight: Josephine Lombardi, PhD A commonly held view ...read more
A girl displaced as a result of Boko Haram attack in the northeast region of Nigeria rests her head on a desk at a camp for internally displaced people. CNS photo/Afolabi Sotunde, Reuters. One of the most interesting conversations I had during my stay in New Orleans was with Sr. Cecilia Dimaku of the Sisters of ...read more
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 10, Jesus tells the disciples that he is the Good Shepherd and he says that he leads the sheep and they hear his voice. He also says that He knows his sheep and his sheep know him. In Chapter 14: 23, the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus ...read more
Here is what’s been happening across Canada this week: The federal government presented the budget this week, after some delay. Somehow the budget is balanced. What does it say about the financial year ahead? The Archdiocese of Vancouver announced on Friday that Archbishop Emeritus Raymond Roussin has passed away. Roussin was diagnosed with clinical depression ...read more
Bigger than any financial scandal or bishops’ resignation was the story of hundreds of illegal migrants who drowned off the coast of Libya when their vessel capsized. Pope Francis used his Angelus address to draw attention to the tragedy and call on the international community to take “decisive and quick action” to prevent further tragedies. ...read more
Dr. Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement, gave the following talk ‘Inventing Peace’ at the High Level Thematic Debate on Promoting Tolerance and Reconciliation: Fostering Peaceful, Inclusive Socities and Countering Violent Extremism at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 22, 2015 during the main plenary session. I would like, first of ...read more
Francis Cardinal George Funeral mass on the day of his burial April 23, 2015 Homily given by Most Reverend Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle As a pastor in Memphis twenty-something years ago, one day I picked up a national Catholic publication and read a talk by the Bishop of Yakima, Francis George. I cannot recall the topic, ...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