(Perspectives Weekly: Catholic Update with John Thavis premiered Friday, May 6th on S+L TV.) Things are always happening at the Vatican and throughout the Catholic world that warrant discussion and analysis.  One of the most widely respected commentators or “Vaticanistas” is John Thavis, former Rome Bureau Chief for Catholic News Service.   Thavis retired from his ...read more

Almost three months ago I ended this column by mentioning that someone had sent me a comment about another post. I had said something about the permanency of doctrine and that person was challenging (I think) my use of the word doctrine. Perhaps (I surmise) I should have used the word “dogma.” At any rate, since then, ...read more

A couple of months before arriving in Jerusalem, I was driving my six-year-old daughter to school and she asked me about Jesus’ footprints. Not the real one located inside the Chapel of the Ascension, rather, she wanted to talk about the ones from famous poem called Footprints. She had seen the poster of it hung ...read more

The Charlemagne Prize was created in 1949 by Dr. Kurt Pfeiffer in Aachen, Germany as a reminder and a call for European unity. The 2016 prize was awarded to Pope Francis this week. In post-war Europe several new organizations and pacts were in development. These organizations and agreements would unify Europe economically and politically. However, ...read more

By Carl Hétu, Canadian National Director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. With ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, the war in eastern Ukraine that started over two years ago is being overlooked by Western media. Many Canadians that I have spoken with recently have shared their assumptions that things are back to normal and that the ...read more

Vesakh is the most important holiday for Buddhists: in it we commemorate the principal events of the life of Buddha. The feast of Vesakh / Hanamatsuri 2016, in the various countries of Buddhist culture, is celebrated on different dates, according to different traditions. This year the festival is celebrated in some countries on May 14, ...read more

On Friday, May 6, in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the International Charlemagne Prize in 2016 was awarded to His Holiness Pope Francis. In the presence of numerous authorities, the ceremony was introduced by a speech by the Mayor of Aachen, Mr. Marcel Philipp. The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Association ...read more

At 6:00 pm on the evening of the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord at the Vatican, Pope Francis presided in the Vatican Basilica at the Prayer vigil for all those in need of consolation. The vigil began with three testimonies alternated with biblical readings, and the lighting of a candle each time before the shrine of ...read more

World Communications Day Where is Christ in Communication? Written by Dr. Jennifer Reid Adjunct Professor, University of St. Michael’s College This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of World Communications Day by the Catholic Church. The past fifty years have brought radical changes in the way we communicate. Every change has created new challenges for ...read more

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 50th World Communications Day Communications and Mercy: A Fruitful Encounter Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Holy Year of Mercy invites all of us to reflect on the relationship between communication and mercy. The Church, in union with Christ, the living incarnation of the Father of Mercies, is ...read more