There are two words foreigners learn almost immediately upon setting foot in Italian territory: “c’è sciopero.” That means “there’s a strike” For most North Americans this phrase causes instant terror. It certainly makes me think of the two month transit strike of 2001 in Vancouver, or the summer long garbage strike in Toronto in 2009. ...read more

Many of our viewers and blog readers will have probably heard us quote from the Vatican Newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. On this week’s Catholic News Service Vatican Report, Carol Glatz and John Thavis take a look at the newspaper, and the shift that has occurred there in the last five years. To download Flash Player please ...read more

The Christian Churches in the Holy Land are often characterized as intractably, scandalously divided. The impression is not without reason, as evidenced by the embarrassing 2008 skirmishes between Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox monks in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre—the church recognized as the site of Calvary and Jesus’ empty tomb. It would be wrong, however, to ...read more

Last week we posted the question: “Does prayer require effort?” As is the case every week, we anticipated uniformity in our answers but were surprised at the diversity (and thoughtfulness) in the responses. One such thoughtful answer came to us from Haiku Hamu who asks: “Is there ever any genuine value in the things that ...read more

On Monday, the S+L blog published an unofficial transcript of Cardinal William Levada’s address on the Vatican’s outreach to Anglicans. His talk attracted a great deal of attention due to the rarity of a visit to Canada by this high-ranking Curial Cardinal. However, the speech was particularly significant given that the office he charges, the ...read more

There’s just something about people from the prairies. Maybe it is the familiarity, and the feeling that everyone is a neighbour. Or it is the humility that comes from knowing their place under the grandeur of the endless sky. Perhaps it is the gentleness of the people who see life begin with just one kernel ...read more

As we reported on Perspectives and throughout the blog, Cardinal William Levada, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was visiting Ottawa and Kingston, Ontario earlier this week.  His celebration of Mass at Ottawa’s Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica will be broadcast on Salt + Light tonight, March 11th, at 8:30pm ET/9:30pm ...read more

From Sunday to Wednesday, March 14-17th, Toronto will be hosting the national vocation and formation conference at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Toronto.  It is an event organized by the National Association of Vocation and Formation Directors (or NAVFD), and they expect close to 200 religious and lay participants from Canada and the US.  The ...read more

These days it’s easy to be discouraged reading the news about never-ending scandals popping up here and there, or about the shortcomings of various role models, or the interviews of well-known people criticizing one another, and so on. I’m sure that we all can think of examples and that we all recognize an overwhelming flow ...read more

It’s been a horrible week at the Vatican, and it’s only Tuesday. Last week, German bishops addressed claims that youth had been sexually abused by clergy in various Catholic schools. News surfaced that boys had been abused at an institution in Regensburg where Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the Pope’s brother, had later been choirmaster. Press reports ...read more