Pope Francis arrived for his Apostolic Trip to Turkey on November 28, 2014 and was greeted with a crowd at the airport. Find the full text of his welcome address below: Mr President, Mr Prime Minister, Distinguished Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to visit your country so rich in natural beauty and history, and filled ...read more

On Thursday while Americans feast on turkey on Thanksgiving Day, Pope Francis prepares for his three-day Apostolic Journey to Turkey for another kind of feast: of ecumenical relations, interreligious dialogue and peace. Breaking another record for papal trips, Pope Francis on Friday sets off on his second international journey this week alone, travelling to the ...read more

Early on November 20, 2014, Pope Francis traveled to the headquarters of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome and delivered the following address to the Second International Conference on Nutrition. Full text below: Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased and honoured to speak here today, at this Second International Conference on ...read more

On November 23, 2014, the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Francis will canonize six blesseds and inscribe them in the roll call of Saints. These blesseds consist of two Indians and four Italians, including one layman and one bishop. The blesseds who are to be canonized on Sunday are: Kuriakose Elias Chavara: A priest and the ...read more

On Friday, October 17, a mass will be celebrated for vocations to the ordained life in the Diocese of Montreal. It will be presided by Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal, at the Major’s Seminary Chapel. Various movements, communities, priests and religious will be present at this Eucharistic celebration. The mass will be live-streamed on the ...read more

On September 27, 2014, as early as 7:00am, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from over 80 countries made their way to Madrid’s Parque de Valdebebas for the Beatification of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the first successor of the founder of Opus Dei, St. Josemaria Escriva. Our group of 50 Canadians travelled by Metro to the ...read more

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass of Thanksgiving for the Equivalent Canonizationof Saints François de Laval and Marie de l’Incarnation Sunday, 12 October 2014 We have heard Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces…” (Is 25:8).  These words, full of hope in God, point us to the goal, ...read more

Sebastian Gomes, Salt + Light writer/producer/director of The Francis Effect, gives us a glimpse into filming the documentary: There’s no way to sugarcoat it: the current situation in the Middle East is catastrophic, and there’s no end in sight. It’s a volatile mix of religious, political, historical, ethnic, social and economic elements all firing at the ...read more

This week, for the little corner of the church, Opus Dei, all roads lead to Madrid! With the Beatification of Bishop Alvaro Del Portillo, the first successor of St. Josemaria, happening in Spain, there is an estimated 100,000 people (according to the Catholic News Agency) coming to witness this momentous and God-glorifying moment. Every step of the way ...read more

During his final engagement of his one-day visit to Albania on Sunday, Pope Francis visited a residential centre for disabled and needy children, run by an Italian charity in the Albanian capital, Tirana. In his address at the Bethany Centre (full text found below), the pope spoke of how faith, working through charity, can dislodge ...read more