Recently, while in Edmonton during the Every Life Matters series, I overheard someone say that the Catholic Church had two preferential options. I had heard of the preferential option for the poor but had never heard of the preferential option for life. Life is the one inalienable right upon which all the other inalienable rights ...read more

Reflecting on the First Chapter of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on Love in the Family Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”), is a treasure trove reflecting the beauty of family life. In his introductory paragraphs the Holy Father uses the image of a “multifaceted gem” ...read more

(Perspectives Weekly: Catholic Update with John Thavis premiered Friday, May 6th on S+L TV.) Things are always happening at the Vatican and throughout the Catholic world that warrant discussion and analysis.  One of the most widely respected commentators or “Vaticanistas” is John Thavis, former Rome Bureau Chief for Catholic News Service.   Thavis retired from his ...read more

Almost three months ago I ended this column by mentioning that someone had sent me a comment about another post. I had said something about the permanency of doctrine and that person was challenging (I think) my use of the word doctrine. Perhaps (I surmise) I should have used the word “dogma.” At any rate, since then, ...read more

A couple of months before arriving in Jerusalem, I was driving my six-year-old daughter to school and she asked me about Jesus’ footprints. Not the real one located inside the Chapel of the Ascension, rather, she wanted to talk about the ones from famous poem called Footprints. She had seen the poster of it hung ...read more

Here’s what has been happening across our country this week: In Alberta, the fires in Fort McMurray have wiped out homes and business and caused residents to evacuate en masse. The fires have also impacted churches and parishes in the region. At least one Catholic church is believed to been lost to the fires and ...read more

The Charlemagne Prize was created in 1949 by Dr. Kurt Pfeiffer in Aachen, Germany as a reminder and a call for European unity. The 2016 prize was awarded to Pope Francis this week. In post-war Europe several new organizations and pacts were in development. These organizations and agreements would unify Europe economically and politically. However, ...read more

By Carl Hétu, Canadian National Director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. With ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, the war in eastern Ukraine that started over two years ago is being overlooked by Western media. Many Canadians that I have spoken with recently have shared their assumptions that things are back to normal and that the ...read more

Vesakh is the most important holiday for Buddhists: in it we commemorate the principal events of the life of Buddha. The feast of Vesakh / Hanamatsuri 2016, in the various countries of Buddhist culture, is celebrated on different dates, according to different traditions. This year the festival is celebrated in some countries on May 14, ...read more

On Friday, May 6, in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the International Charlemagne Prize in 2016 was awarded to His Holiness Pope Francis. In the presence of numerous authorities, the ceremony was introduced by a speech by the Mayor of Aachen, Mr. Marcel Philipp. The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Association ...read more