The vocation of the family is to love. The most extraordinary way a family can love is through the ordinariness of life. For the families we will meet in this series, it simply means being open to whatever God wills in their lives. It is their surest way to grow in holiness, a call given to everyone. ...read more

That’s the title of a new film that just opened last weekend to mixed reviews. It stars Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in a romance with a bit of a twist. Clarke plays Louisa “Lou” Clark, who takes a job as the caregiver to Will Traynor (Claflin), a former daredevil who is now a quadriplegic ...read more

Lisa Daniels lives with extreme, debilitating, chronic pain. She suffers greatly. Her suffering is irremediable. There is no cure. Many people who support the idea of medically assisted dying do so on the basis that some people, like Lisa, live with unbearable, intolerable pain. Can all pain be managed? How are we to respond to ...read more

I first heard of Mark Pickup, 10 years ago when we were working on Turning the Tide. At the time, it was not possible to interview Mark for the documentary. He would have been a great addition to the film. Mark was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 30. He is one of Canada’s most ...read more

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

In exploring the issues of end of life and medically assisted dying, we’ve looked at what the law says and at palliative care. But we can’t ignore the question of freedom and human rights since one of the basic arguments for euthanasia and assisted suicide is that of autonomy: “it’s my body; my choice.” In ...read more

Last week I wrote about the law as it stands in Canada and what the changes to allow for physician assisted dying may be. Since then, the Government has tabled a bill which is now going through the proper channels on its way to approval before June 7th, 2016. You can read the proposed bill: ...read more

Most papal trips are planned months, sometimes years in advance and involve several visits by vatican delegations to sort out the logistical intricacies. This weekend’s papal visit to the Greek Island of Lesbos was put together in record time and announced just one week before the scheduled departure date. Pope Francis will land on the ...read more

You may know that I am currently in Edmonton taking part in the Every Life Matters series. This is an initiative by Archbishop Richard Smith to begin conversations on an important topic that is bound to touch all of us at some point in time. What precipitated the series is the fact that our legal landscape ...read more

Watch the Press Conference LIVE on Friday, April 8th 2016 at 5:30am ET. Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on the family will be published on April 8th 2016. It is called, “Amoris Laetitia” latin for “The Joy of Love”. ...read more