A prayer vigil was held at Rome’s St. Ignatius Church on Dec. 7 to show contrition for clerical sexual abuse. The service was led by Canada’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who currently serves as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. Below is the full text of his homily. My venerable brother bishops and priests and ...read more

You’ll be seeing a lot of Fr. James Mallon on S+L this week. He’s the current pastor of St. Benedict parish in Halifax, a new church that resulted from the amalgamation of three churches in downtown Halifax. This Friday on Perspectives Weekly, he speaks about how his community was able to make the most of ...read more

As a medical doctor and professor at Queen’s University, Dr. Jacalyn Duffin has an interesting CV. Her specialty? Miracles. In her career, Dr. Duffin has surveyed more than 1,400 miracles pertaining to 229 different canonizations and 145 beatifications from 1588 to 1999. In this edition of Catholic Focus, host Jenna Murphy will examine the place ...read more

January 24th was the feast day of St. Francis de Sales – patron of journalists and communicators – and the occasion Pope Benedict chose to announce the Church’s message for World Communications Day 2012.  The message is an interesting one, highlighting the importance of silence as a crucial variable in effective and meaningful communication.  “In ...read more

In 2010, an Ontario Superior Court struck down three laws related to prostitution, on the grounds that those laws put the lives of sex workers at risk. While the appeals process continues, so does the public debate. We profile organizations that help women and men leave prostitution, and speak with representatives of the Toronto police ...read more

A close friend recently gave birth to her first child. The newborn arrived ten days later than expected, having decided to make his debut on Christmas Day. Though my friend (and all mothers) might disagree, today I feel like I can somewhat relate. S+L’s upcoming documentary Across the Divide also required an extended gestation. Across ...read more

It’s easy to take ecumenism for granted in Canada, even during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Of course, the full expression of visible unity has not been achieved, and won’t likely occur within our lifetime. But we have grown so accustomed to respectful relations and cooperative efforts on social issues that our prayers ...read more

Benedict XVI celebrated Vespers on January 25 to mark both the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul and the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The liturgy, which was attended by representatives of various Christian denominations, took place at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls. The video of his homily is ...read more

Tonight on Perspectives: The Weekly Edition, Pedro speaks with Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, and Fr. Damian MacPherson, SA, director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs of the Archdiocese of Toronto, to discuss the sticking points and the intrinsic opportunities of ecumenical dialogue. ...read more

This week the church asks us to pray for Christian unity. What does that mean? Why do we pray for Christian unity? As Christ said to God Our Father “they may all be one, as we are one” (Jo 17, 21) we have to look not to the things that keep us separated as Christians, ...read more