When I was a kid, I’d ask my mom a million questions. Stuff like, how long is a centipede? Why does the sun rise in the morning, and why does Fr. Ballmeier wear a ‘scarf’ (chasuble) during mass? Everyone knows at least one child like me who is insatiably curious. And we’ve all been on ...read more

Archbishops Richard Smith of Edmonton and Paul-Andre Durocher, President and Vice-President respectively for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, have released a letter to Canadian bishops, outlining their recent solidarity mission to Haiti from Dec. 14 – 21, 2011. Furthermore, the CCCB has compiled a complete report titled, “Challenges and Opportunities in the Reconstruction of ...read more

Every year bishops representing North America and Europe make a special visit to the Holy Land to meet with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Known as the Holy Land Coordination, the bishops spend the week visiting Christians in and around Jerusalem. They get to see how the average parish works, how Christians live alongside Jews ...read more

With last week’s Epiphany announcement that the Archbishop of Toronto, Thomas Collins would become a cardinal, Canada is rejoicing. Although his face and name are associated with the Archdiocese of Toronto he was previously the Archbishop of Edmonton. This week the Western Catholic Reporter published this story offering insight into what kind of impact he ...read more

Do you think it’s possible to have 30,000 people welcoming the year in prayer? What if the majority of that group are youth? Does that seem possible? That is exactly what happened this year in Berlin at the European meeting of the Taize community. The meeting actually begun on December 28 and ran until January ...read more

If we were to step back for a moment and look at the extent to which traditionally Christian societies have become secular in recent history, we might conclude (quite reasonably) that by all appearances the Faith is dying, if not dead already.  So dangerous is the perception of this cultural shift away from God, that ...read more

Every year for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord the Holy Father takes part in a special tradition: he celebrates Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the Vatican workers who have had babies in the last year and baptizes the little ones. The tradition began with John Paul II in the first year ...read more

It is difficult to believe there are countries in the world where suffering is an every day reality. The pope delivered the post-synodal exhortation “Africae Munus” about the Catholic Church in Africa last November, focusing on the need for change.  Today the news coming out of Africa is mainly about the starvation in the Horn ...read more

Today we celebrate the feast of St. André Bessette, our first Canadian-born saint. We invite you to watch S+L’s documentary, God’s Doorkeeper: St. André of Montreal. Discover the miracle of St. André: a life devoted to prayer and generous service to the sick and needy. ...read more

CCCB President Archbishop Richard Smith congratulates Cardinal-designate Collins on the announcement that the Holy Father has elevated him to the dignity of Cardinal of the Church of Rome. Below find his official statement: As President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, it is a great joy for me, on behalf of all the Bishops ...read more