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. Enjoy! So the Holy ...read more

Sunday saw Pope Francis wrap up what was by all accounts, an enormously successful trip to Asia. He canonized Sri Lanka’s first saint, celebrated the single largest Mass in the Church’s history in Manila (attendance estimated to have been between six and seven million) and received nothing short of a rock star welcome everywhere he ...read more

Here’s what’s been happening across the country this past week. In Rimouski, the church is in shock after Archbishop Pierre André Fournier died suddenly at the age of 71. In the prairies, there is increasing discussion around the idea that maybe there are other, more effective alternatives to the standard approach taken by the criminal ...read more

Pope Francis celebrated Sunday Mass in Rizal Park in Manila for approximately 6 million people on January 18, 2015. Below you will find the full text of his homily & the greetings of Cardinal Tagle & Archbishop Villegas. Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Manila, Rizal Park January 18, 2015 “A child is born to ...read more

On Sunday, January 18, Pope Francis met with the young people of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. Below you will find the full text of his address, along with the Welcome Message of the Encounter with Youth, given by Rev. Leopoldo Jaucian, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth. Welcome Message to ...read more

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about Vocations. We’ve looked at what it means to be called and how to discern that call. We also looked at the Church’s four Vocations: Ordained Life, Religious Life, Single Life and Married Life. Last week we concluded by seeing some of the more complex teachings ...read more

On Saturday, January 17, Pope Francis met with Priests, Religious, Seminarians and Families at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of our Lord in Palo, Leyte. Below you can the full text of the Holy Father’s address, along with Archbishop John Du’s Presentation of the Delegates address. Presentation of the Delegates by Archbishop John Du January 17, ...read more

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the grounds of the airport in Tacloban City, Philippines, on Saturday morning. An estimated 500 thousand people braved wind and often driving rain to take part in the liturgy. Putting aside his prepared text for the homily, the Holy Father spoke to the gathered faithful in his native Spanish. Below, ...read more

badassery [MASS NOUN] North American informal Behaviour, characteristics, or actions regarded as formidably impressive: few of us can attain her level of badassery The other day I read an article that used the word ‘badassery’. I couldn’t believe it: had the word finally crossed the Rubicon and become a legitimate word? I checked the Oxford dictionary. Yup, there it was. That got me thinking: ...read more

It is not unheard of for non-Catholics to visit Catholic churches and shrines. It is less common to have non-Catholics visit those sites, pray alongside the faithful and claim to have received graces through the experience. Sri Lanka’s Madhu Shrine is such a site, and it had a profound effect on Pope Francis. The shrine ...read more