The enormous amount of media attention that Pope Francis attracts has highlighted the Church’s influence in the world of global politics. The Pope, whoever he is, is a spiritual leader, but one with a permanent seat at the political table. Hardly a week goes by in which Francis doesn’t meet with some head of state ...read more

On Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the faithful of the Armenian rite. The Armenians were on hand to see the Holy Father name one of their own, Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Church. While not trying to draw significance away from that, or from the Mass that ...read more

Over the weekend, Pope Francis addressed the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies. Speaking on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Holy Father focused on the concept of dialogue, lauding the academy for their work in furthering Christian-Islamic relations. He told them “the most effective antidote against all forms of violence is education ...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

Pope Benedict began Day 2 of his apostolic journey in Benin when he met with President Yani Bono, diplomatic corp members and those of the government. This all took place in the Presidential Palace in Cotonou. In his address, the Holy Father used the symbol of a hand in speaking about religious diversity in the ...read more

As anti-capitalism protests continue in Toronto’s St. James Park, a different kind of protest occupied the front lawn of the provincial legislature one week ago. Nearly 2,000 demonstrators gathered at Queen’s Park for the first ever Defund Abortion Rally. The event called on the province of Ontario to end the practice of subsidizing elective abortions. ...read more

The President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Pierre Morissette, has issued the following statement on the death of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Jack Layton. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops joins all Canadians in offering condolences and sympathy to the family, friends and political colleagues of the late Leader of ...read more

Holy Week has begun and here in Canada we are two weeks away from a Federal Election – needless to say, there are a lot of people who are not paying attention to Holy Week and Easter, and a lot of people who are not paying attention to the election. I think the latter group ...read more