Who killed Jesus? From the Gospels, we know that he was crucified directly by Roman soldiers. But those who want to attribute blame for his death have drawn in a wider pool of suspects: Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, the Jewish people, and all of humanity. The question of Jewish culpability in “deicide” is particularly charged, ...read more

Newspapers over the last few month have all too often had stories about the persecution of Christians. From Iraq, to Egypt, to many parts of the Middle East it is unfortunately becoming common to read about assaults on the faithful. Here in the Archdiocese of Toronto, Archbishop Collins have been very encouraging for parishes to ...read more

Rosary? Check. Pilgrim’s booklet? Check. YouCat? Check. World Youth Day guidebook? Check. The pilgrim packs are being assembled for this year’s World Youth Day in Madrid. And just like when he became the first pilgrim to register for the August 2011 event, Pope Benedict became the first to receive the pilgrim pack. The Archbishop of ...read more

While some shake their head at seemingly lower number of vocations, the Holy Father says that the Lord still calls people today, and “at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve the Church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life.” The Lord is calling — but we must ...read more

Today in Madrid WYD organizers confirmed the “extra” events on the Pope Benedict XVI's agenda during the event. ...read more

We Canadians like our summer long weekends.  Once May arrives, we indulge in a monthly long weekend until October! (With the exception of June outside of Quebec.) In an attempt to satiate our long weekend desires, five provinces have a long weekend in February.  Three of those provinces — Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan — celebrate ...read more

Today marks the feast of St. Francis de Sales, who also happens to be the patron saint of journalists. It is on this day that the Pope traditionally publishes his message for the World Day of Communications. This year, the message takes the theme “Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age.” In ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday general audience this week highlights the life of St. Catherine of Genoa. Two things stood out for me about this talk: the 15th century saint’s words on purgatory and also what the Holy Father said about mystics.  He recounted the “profound union” Catherine had with God, but that she also cared ...read more

Unofficially, it’s called the “state of the world” address. Officially, it’s Pope Benedict XVI’s annual talk to the diplomatic corps. And representatives from the 178 states that have diplomatic ties to the Holy See gathered this morning at the Vatican for the address. Religious freedom was the key issue that the Holy Father discussed. He ...read more

The Papal intentions reported on the Tuesday, January 4th edition of Perspectives were the incorrect intentions for this month.  Please see the correct intentions for January 2011 below: Every January we celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  The week begins on January 18th, and extends to January 25th, the feast of the conversion ...read more