Below you will find the full text of the Common Declaration of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, signed at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar (Istanbul), on Sunday, November 30, 2014, Feast of St. Andrew:  We, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, express our profound gratitude to God for the gift of this new ...read more

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople jointly presided over an ecumenical prayer service on Saturday evening in the church of St. George, within the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Below, please find the full text of the allocution His All Holiness, Bartholomew, prepared for the occasion. Your Holiness, In offering glory to the all-good God in Trinity, ...read more

Sister Marilyn von Zuben was a missionary in Japan (1963-1976) and in Cameroon (1992-2010). Since she came back to Canada, she has been interested in the re-entry process of returning missionaries. She is starting a support group to help religious who, like her, are struggling with the difficulties of coming back to Canada after years ...read more

Join Salt + Light for the premiere of The Gist! A dynamic trio from Boston, Danielle Bean, Rachel Balducci and Carolee McGrath, host this talk show using humour and personal experience, to cover a variety of topics on motherhood and family life. The Gist season 3 premieres Wednesday, December 3 at 9:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT. ...read more

In the heart of Montreal, there is a very special house with a lovely name communauté Vita-Joie (Live Your Joy). In 2009, the sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame moved into this house to welcome two new candidates, Andrée Maheu and Violaine Paradis. When the sisters were received as novices, the house became a novitiate. ...read more

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago released the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement of relief for immigrant families. The original statement can be found on the Archdiocesan website: www.archchicago.org. – – – – – – – – – – November 26, 2014 In concert with my brother bishops throughout the ...read more

The man who designed the European Union flag, Arsène Heitz, was inspired by scripture and the image of Mary on the Miraculous Medal. While he never hid the fact that the flag he designed is “Our Lady’s flag”, the European Union itself has offered different explanations for the evocative design. The flag, and the EU ...read more

I am a sister of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame (CND). On April 1, 2013, I left Japan on a one-year assignment to be a member of the International Community located in the Mother House in Montreal. First, let me briefly introduce the history of the CND in Japan. It was in 1932 that five French ...read more

On November 14 – 15, 2014, the Office for English Pastoral Services (OEPS) of the Archdiocese of Montreal, along with the OEPS director and auxiliary Bishop Thomas Dowd, organized the Parish Vitality Conference in Montreal. This event has been taking place under the theme Doors Wide Open aimed at rebooting parish life! For Bishop Thomas ...read more

A Doubly Beautiful Feast On this feast we, as Catholics, commemorate when our Lady dedicated herself to God entirely. One of the best quotes that illustrate the beauty of the presentation of Mary can be found on americancatholic.org. It says,   “Even though the feast has no basis in history, it stresses an important truth ...read more