This weekend, Pope Benedict XVI will make his first trip to Croatia as the successor of Peter. However, as Holy See Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, points out, it’s not his first visit to the strongly Catholic country. The Vatican spokesman offered an editorial previewing the trip on the Vatican Television program Octava ...

Did you know that killing raccoons is illegal in Toronto? Raccoons. Killing them. It’s against the law. Raccoons. I’m not advocating the killing of innocent animals (or guilty ones, for that matter). But really. It’s illegal? A few weeks ago I heard about a man being charged for shooting his dog. Apparently his dog was ...

Oh May, how we hardly knew you! Thirty one days zipped by and we are already entering into the halfway point of the year. In May, we paid particular attention to our Blessed Mother, in June we traditionally contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Last year, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Pope Benedict ...

The Vatican returned to the contentious issue of HIV/AIDS prevention at a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers. One hundred invited experts ranged from theologians to doctors. Speakers included Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. Another participant was Edward C. Green, ...

[singlepic id=37 w=150 h=180 float=right] The world did not end last weekend, but can we say the same for victims of natural disasters? This week on S+L Radio we’ll be speaking with Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg about how the floods have affected his community; Chris Giardino is back with his DVD picks and John ...

I have to be honest – while I grew up in an environment where devotions to Mary were very common – my Parish was “Our Lady of Guadalupe” – I didn’t ever really develop a special devotion to Our Lady. In fact, even calling Mary, “Our Lady” or “Our Blessed Mother,” seems a bit weird ...

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga describes Caritas Internationalis as more than a nongovernmental organization. “Caritas is a sign of the love of God for all humanity. It is a love that knows no bounds or boundaries.” said the Honduran prelate of Tegucigalpa at the organization’s general assembly held this week in Rome. At the assembly, Cardinal ...

Sometimes (actually most times) our work at S+L takes us to unexpected places. Last week, I found myself in a sunny stucco alleyway in the west end of Toronto to scout out a potential film location. After a little aimless wandering on my part, a man in dirty coveralls delivered me safely to my destination. ...

Two months before his death in 1979, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen met Pope John Paul II in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The two embraced, and the now Blessed John Paul II said to the legendary Catholic writer and broadcaster: “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a loyal ...

Nobody in Spain is up at 8:30am on a Saturday morning. Nobody. Except this Saturday. A handful of volunteers from World Youth Day were up and moving at 8:30am. The lure was a very rare visit to La Aguilera and a unique religious community for women based there called Iesu Communio. They don’t like to appear ...