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

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

Today on Perspectives, Pope Francis Canonizes Sri Lanka’s first saint and visits Sri Lanka’s holiest Marian Shrine. ...read more

  On October 19th, 1904, the first Mass was celebrated in the Little Oratory in Montreal, dedicated to Saint Joseph and founded by St. André Bessette. On October 19th, 2010, nearly one hundred years later, Salt + Light Television launched its live broadcast of daily Mass from the crypt church in Saint Joseph’s Oratory. St. André ...read more

Have you ever sat in mass and prayed really hard – “please God, please. Let this be over soon!” Somewhere between the grumpy greeter, the off-key cantor, the lackluster homily and your own unenthusiastic recitation of the Creed, you realize that there’s something terribly wrong with this picture. I don’t want to be here! Is ...read more

In the past week, I’ve been trying to imagine what our world would be like had Jesus never been born. (Check out part 1 and part 2) It’s easy to say that The Church would not exist or that we would have no Pope. There would be no priests, deacons, religious sisters or brothers, nor ...read more

Men dressed as the “Three Wise Men” present gifts to a baby playing the part of Jesus during the annual Epiphany parade through central Burgos, Spain,  Jan. 5, 2012. Traditionally, children in Spain receive their Christmas presents on the morning of Jan. 6, delivered by the “Three Wise Men.” CNS photo/Felix Ordonez, Reuters ...read more

Pope Francis announces twenty new Cardinals during Sunday Angelus – January 4, 2015 At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the names of fifteen Archbishops and Bishops whom he will raise to the dignity of the Cardinalate on February 14, 2015. In addition, the Holy Father announced that five retired Archbishops and Bishops “distinguished ...read more

Last time, I was imagining a world without Christmas. That would mean no Christmas music and no Christmas movies.  But a world without Jesus would mean much more to our popular culture. After watching the screen adaptation of Les Miserables two years ago,  I couldn’t help but thinking that this novel would be very different had Jesus not ...read more