If you’ve visited Jerusalem, you never forget your first glimpse of the Western Wall. (Even if you haven’t, you can virtually travel there via Google street view.) The holy site is bustling with noise and activity, quite unlike the hushed reverence one might expect. Bowing fervently as they chant their prayers, pious Jews are dwarfed ...read more

If a television producer predicts that the viewership of his new series will eclipse “Survivor”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, and “The Voice”, some skepticism is warranted. The statement becomes even bolder when the subject of this series is religious. Yet when the producer’s name is Mark Burnett, grand expectations are warranted. Burnett and his wife Roma Downey ...read more

Do we really care about Christian unity? That was the challenging question posed by of one of my colleagues this morning, as he perceived a lack of interest in ecumenical issues in the Catholic community. His observation prompted a few questions of my own. Why might some Catholics feel that ecumenism isn’t a priority? And, ...read more

The world was shocked by the news out of Belgium that 45-year-old deaf twins chose to be euthanized after learning that they were losing their vision. The case epitomized the “slippery slope” that euthanasia opponents have been warning about. Euthanasia is usually advocated using the example of terminally-ill patients in unbearable pain who give full ...read more

When Christmas is near, we all become traditionalists. Even the most anti-establishment types among us are horrified by attempts to alter our treasured rituals. As one example, Toronto shoppers were aghast at the unveiling of the modernized Christmas tree in the Eaton Centre shopping mall. Replacing the traditional, Swarovski-bedazzled faux-fir of years past, this year’s ...read more

S+L’s Kris Dmytrenko has been walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Read his previous blog entries about the pilgrimage here. After walking 800 kilometres, I finally reached Santiago de Compostela, the Spanish city at the end of my cross-country pilgrimage. But where was the Cathedral? My pace quickened as I marched towards the historic ...read more

What if you were in Gaza today, and you couldn’t leave? To what lengths would you go to get out? This question has been on the minds of the people of Gaza long before the latest escalation of violence (which, for the moment, has abated thanks to a ceasefire). Unemployment stands at 31.5%. A tightly ...read more

S+L’s Kris Dmytrenko has been walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Read his previous blog entries about the pilgrimage here. “All I have to do is walk”. This is what I told myself in the weeks leading up to my pilgrimage, as I imagined how simple life was about to become. The Camino de ...read more

S+L’s Kris Dmytrenko is walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. He may write regular updates for the blog, or he may not until he reaches the end–as the spirit (and wifi availability) leads him. The Camino de Santiago is infused with Spanish Catholicism — as it should be, since this walking pilgrimage leads ...read more

S+L’s Kris Dmytrenko is walking  the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. He may write regular updates for the blog, or he may not until he reaches the end–as the spirit (and wifi availability) leads him. It was an appropriate start to my pilgrimage, which will take me along an ancient route in Spain called ...read more