Pope Benedict XVI began his four day journey to Portugal this morning.  He arrived in Lisbon at 11 am local time to a formal reception at the airport where he was greeted by a choir of  30 singing children from the music academy of St. Cecily. The children performed the official welcoming hymn written in ...read more

The faithful of Portugal will have a special guest when they celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Fatima this year. From Tuesday, May 11th to Friday, May 14th, Pope Benedict XVI will journey to Portugal. He’ll mark the 93rd anniversary of the apparitions of Fátima, the 68th anniversary of consecration of the world to ...read more

As Alessia Domanico reported on Perspectives on May 6th, the Swiss Guards are thirty stronger, having sworn in their new recruits. In an elaborate ceremony, the Swiss Guards corps officially installed their latest recruits. The ceremony takes place every year on the 6th of May, the anniversary of the Sack of Rome. On that day ...read more

When I moved to Ontario from Nova Scotia in 2007, Catholic schools were a totally new concept for me. Until setting up camp in Ontario, those plaid little numbers were relegated to movies and to Britney Spears music videos. The more I learn about the Ontario Catholic School Board, however, the more I realize that ...read more

The current economic crisis was caused by a series of failures, chief among them is a failure of ethics, according to the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. The president of the Vatican’s Social Sciences Academy, Mary Ann Glendon, said during the course of the Academy’s plenary session members heard from those working in various sectors ...read more

On April 19, 2005 when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope, the popular consensus was that this would be a papacy of continuity; he would ensure that his predecessor’s line of leadership and teaching would be safeguarded. What most people didn’t take into consideration was that Cardinal Ratzinger is a very different personality than Cardinal ...read more

Monday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York initiated a National Prayer Campaign for Life in the United States. The initiative is co-sponsored by the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus. The announcement came as part of a memorial Mass for John Cardinal O’Connor, a former ...read more

So far we’ve had a brief look at Sacraments (Parts 1, 2, & 3) in general and more specifically at Baptism. Let’s continue with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is the Sacrament that we all called “Confession.” It is sometimes referred to as the Sacrament of “Penance,” as well. Remember that all Sacraments make Christ ...read more

The Gospel for this Sunday was was John 13:31-33a, 34-35: When Judas had left them, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." ...read more

In the mid-1980s, Cardinal John O’Connor visited the Dachau concentration camp. Overwhelmed by the horrors that occurred there, he vowed to do all he could to protect and promote the sacredness of human life. This led him to be a champion of life, in word and action; including the establishment of the Sisters of Life. ...read more