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December 2, 2016
VATICAN CITY – While he was in town for a global meeting on the crisis in the Mediterranean region, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stopped by the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis that likely centred largely on the problem of migration.
RIO DE JANEIRO – A Brazilian court’s ruling legalizing abortion during the first trimester has caused uproar among politicians with strong ties to Roman Catholic and evangelical faiths, who have gained ground in the current government.
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. – St. Mary's Catholic Church was at ground zero in the wildfires that devastated parts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Nov. 28, and while flames reached to within yards of the tourist city church, it appears to have been spared.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, making him the first martyr born in the United States.
WASHINGTON – Faith leaders and immigrant advocates urged President Barack Obama to pardon immigrants in the country without legal documentation and people with nonviolent, federal drug offences serving prison sentences.
In the Scripture readings for the Second Sunday of Advent, two of the three outstanding Advent guides (Isaiah, John the Baptist and Mary) show us the proper attitude to assume as we prepare to welcome the Saviour of the world.
At a major-league baseball playoff game in Toronto last year, after a questionable umpiring call, disgruntled spectators started throwing beer cans onto the field of play.
A prophet makes a vow of love, not of alienation. Daniel Berrigan wrote those words and they need to be highlighted today when a lot of very sincere, committed, religious people self-define as cultural warriors, as prophets at war with secular culture.
3rd Sunday in Advent, Dec. 11 (Year A) Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10; Psalm 146; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
They say the first year of marriage is the hardest, but Michael and Vanessa Nicholas-Schmidt never would have guessed that their marital bliss would be cut short by a pile of dirty containers.
VATICAN CITY – Knowing the debate surrounding Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on the family, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said the document "first and foremost recalls the mercy and compassion of God and not just moral norms and canonical rules."
STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D. – Does Pope Francis have a position on the Dakota Access Pipeline?
DUBLIN – Fifty percent of Syria's hospitals and medical centers have been destroyed or looted and their staff kidnapped, tortured or slaughtered, a leading Syrian surgeon told members of the Irish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.
BEIRUT – The Syriac Catholic patriarch said he was horrified to see widespread devastation and what he called "ghost towns" during a recent visit to northern Iraq.
December 3, 2016
If you think of artists as strange, unbalanced, complicated personalities whose natural habitat is somewhere on the margins, Herman Goodden is not about to change your opinion. But if you think books about art and artists are dull, academic, jargon-laden wastes of time, paper and ink, Goodden wants you to think again.
The journey toward Truth and Reconciliation takes many forms, but few will be as physically demanding as a history matching canoe trip planned for next summer.
Jeffrey Perrault can’t bring himself to condemn Bill C-14, the law that opened the door to legalized assisted suicide in Canada. He knows it may be an option he’s forced to consider as his battle with ALS worsens.
For the last three years Ontario’s Liberal government has opened up its budget-making process to anybody with an Internet connection and each year among the most frequent suggestions is de-funding the Catholic school system.
For Kevin Dunn, being pro-life is a family affair.
The relationship between Fidel Castro and the Cuban Catholic Church has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, though it has noticeably improved in recent years.