Earlier today, the Permanent Council for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops released a pastoral letter on freedom of conscience and religion. Issued by the CCCB’s Permanent Council, the letter expresses concern about an “aggressive relativism” in Canada that seeks to relegate religion to the private sphere. More than that, the Permanent Council explains why ...read more

Why is the practice of religion such a universal phenomenon throughout the history of cultures? Do religions still have a role to play in the secularized countries of the 21st century? Are religions currently evolving in pluralistic societies? An exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, entitled God(s): a User’s Guide, provides the inspiration for ...read more

The month of May – the month the church dedicated to Mary – serves as a good excuse to get familiar with Marian devotions around the world, Marian artwork, and most importantly what we can learn about Christ and our faith by looking at Mary. Once again we turn to our friend Fr. Jim Phalan, ...read more

An interfaith delegation of nearly 20 religious leaders from Ukraine were in Canada this week. The delegation included Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk (Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church), Mr. Jacob Dov Bleich (Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine), Patriarch Filaret Denysenko (Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyivan Patriarchate), as well as senior representatives of the Roman Catholic, ...read more

Working for Christian Unity is harder than it sounds. The core of all Christian’s faith is Christ. Many Christian denominations have some sort of celebration of Eucharist. Yet many of these Christian confessions who celebrate Eucharist understand that Eucharist differently than we do. This week the Methodist church and Catholic Church in the United States ...read more

Stories are powerful. They inspire us, imbue us with values, and foster a sense of continuity with the past. In fact, I always marvel at how Jesus used parables to reveal realities that could hardly be fathomed by those who heard them. I’ve heard it said that we become the stories we tell ourselves. I’ll ...read more

For many of us, it feels as if we were celebrating World Youth Day in Madrid just yesterday. Another World Youth Day is already upon us, although not on the same scale. Every two to three years, World Youth Day is celebrated with a week-long international gathering in a different host city. That particular city ...read more

This post comes to us from Fr. Jim Phalan, CSC courtesy of the Holy Cross Family Rosary Blog “World at Prayer” During a recent to our Family Rosary Missions in AfricaI had the opportunity to visit Kibeho, Rwanda where  Our Lady appeared many times between 1981-83 a  dozen years before the well known genocide. Though ...read more

We tend to forget about Joseph after the Christmas season, but his feast day provides the opportunity for us to contemplate the influential role he played in the life of Jesus. ...read more

On the first night of the 2012 Canadian Catholic Youth Ministry Network Conference, a multitude of youth ministers, lay pastoral associates, archdiocesan youth directors, and university chaplains gathered in St. Patrick’s Basilica in downtown Ottawa.  This conference, that happens every two years, was held at the Ottawa Marriott hotel. Nearly 300 people gathered together to ...read more