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February 15, 2018
EDMONTON – Sr. Elizabeth Kass is being remembered as a fearless woman who spent decades ministering to her fellow members of the deaf community, culminating in what she called the answer to her prayers — the ordination of Canada’s first deaf priest.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) – As it loses its grip in the Middle East, the Islamic State is finding a foothold in Somalia, said a bishop who oversees the Catholic Church in the troubled country.
VATICAN – The Vatican denied that retired Pope Benedict XVI has a degenerative neurological disease or paralyzing condition after his brother, 94-year-old Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, told a magazine that Pope Benedict had a debilitating disease.
VATICAN – Updating the norms and regulations governing the resignation of bishops and of Roman Curia department heads who are not cardinals, Pope Francis said they will continue to hold office until he accepts their resignations.
MIAMI – Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski urged community members to come together "to support one another in this time of grief" after a shooting rampage Feb. 14 at a Broward County high school left at least 17 people dead.
REGINA – The trial of a Saskatchewan farmer charged in the death of a 22-year-old Indigenous man has ended with an acquittal. But other than that, what have we learned from this?
VATICAN – In a conversation with Jesuits during his recent visit to Peru, Pope Francis said he regularly meets with victims of sexual abuse on Fridays, and that while the percentage of priests who abuse is relatively low, even one is too many.
February 16, 2018
There are probably thousands of Passion plays put on around the world during the Easter season, but you would be hard pressed to find a more unique version than the one held in a small town in Germany’s Bavarian Alps.
Few dossiers that cross the Pope’s desk are more challenging than the thick, sad file on sexual abuse. It’s a file Pope Francis inherited from his two predecessors and one he pledged to handle with urgency, compassion and transparency.
Whether or not St. Thomas Aquinas really said “he who sings prays twice,” it’s true.
VATICAN – No physician should be forced to choose between violating his or her conscience and facing professional sanctions when defending human life, said the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
VATICAN – Loudly boasting or complaining about fasting during Lent and treating others unkindly is not what God wants, Pope Francis said.
For many Canadians, hand-me-down clothes from siblings or cousins were a natural part of growing up. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to have relatives to lean on.
This past fall, my mother received a call from the care home in Yorkton, Sask., where her eldest sister was a resident. My mother was informed that her sister had taken a turn in health and there likely wasn’t much time left.
February 17, 2018
WASHINGTON – If Christians in the Middle East are going to be "honest" with their Muslim dialogue partners, said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, Muslims will have to acknowledge that the persecution of Christians in the region did not start with the Islamic State's rise to power in 2014.
First Sunday of Lent, Feb. 18 (Year B) Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15
VATICAN – Pope Francis has named nine new members to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, including abuse survivors or the parents of survivors, the Vatican said.
Is the world moving closer to nuclear war?
February 18, 2018
VATICAN – Lent is a time to face our temptations and be converted by the Gospel, Pope Francis said in his Angelus address on the first Sunday of Lent.
February 19, 2018
The future of an historic cathedral in Quebec has been secured by a transaction that saw the local bishop trade away a former convent and his diocese assume the cathedral’s $300,000 debt.