Cheridan and Sebastian practice line-dancing on the set of The Church Alive. As we’re in the media business, we’re very much aware of how pictures shape perception.  Especially when it comes to telling the story of the Church.  A large part of the New Evangelization is about rethinking how our story is told. Whether we ...read more

Does our religious perspective inform our political perspective, or is it the other way around?  On episode six of The Church Alive: Politics, Cheridan and Sebastian take a closer look at this timely question.  What has become apparent in our culture is the degree to which some Catholics are willing to ignore – or even subvert ...read more

At a crucial moment in the history of the church and of the world, humanity stands at a crossroads.  We are more technologically and economically advanced than ever before, yet global development and the distribution of resources remains a struggle.  In recent history we have witnessed the ravages of war between nations and peoples, yet ...read more

Cheridan Sanders interviews a young parishioner at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago, IL. Why don’t more people attend mass regularly? It’s something I ponder whenever I find myself surrounded by empty pews. Interestingly, the answer came to me when S+L camerman Dave LeRoss, producer Sebastian Gomes, and I were in ...read more

May 6 this year will go down as one of the saddest days in the history of the province of Quebec. On that day, members of the Quebec national assembly voted in favour of Bill 52, the “Act of Respecting End-of-life.” Supporters call it “medical aid in dying”. I call it what it is: Euthanasia. ...read more

Ever since World Youth Day 2002, my favourite Scripture passage has been the end of Matthew’s Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20. I think it’s because my middle name is Emmanuel. It means “God with us”. I love that Jesus promises us that he will be with us until the end of time. Today we celebrate a great ...read more

This week was big in many ways: Pope Francis made some significant appointments, including naming his personal secretary to the number two position at the newly created Secretariat for the Economy. Wednesday was the beginning of Lent and Pope Francis’ first Ash Wednesday liturgy as pontiff. It was also the day one the Italian newspaper ...read more

On Saturday, February 22nd, 2014, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Francis presided his first ordinary public consistory, creating nineteen new cardinals. Sixteen of them are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to choose the next successor of St Peter. These men reflect the universal nature ...read more

On This week’s Vatican Connections we look at the long-awaited beatification decree for Archbishop Oscar Romero. We talk to Father Frank Desiderio, a Paulist priest who worked with the producer of the 1989 film about the martyr, and we look at the reaction of Salvadoreans who have long referred to their slain archbishop as “el ...read more

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the freshly named patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, chose 37-year-old Father Loris Capovilla as his private secretary in 1953, a skeptical adviser told the cardinal that the priest looked too sickly to bear the strain of his new job. “Then he’ll die ...read more