Pope Francis is the first pope from Latin America and he ensured South America was the destination for his first foreign trip. So it was no surprise that the Argentine Pope was welcomed to World Youth Day in Brazil by huge, adoring crowds who brought his motorcade to a standstill.

On June 12, in another of the seemingly inexorable movements in the developed world to normalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, Quebec tabled Bill 52, “An act respecting end-of-life care.” Given that only 16-30 per cent of Canadians have access to comprehensive, quality end-of-life care, according to the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, we ought to receive news of efforts to improve care at this crucially important and vulnerable time for dying persons and their loved ones with universal enthusiasm. But what vision of “end-of-life care” is presented here?

On July 5 Pope Francis released his first encyclical, a newsworthy event in itself, but then he knocked himself from the headlines by approving the sainthood causes of two of his renowned predecessors. If the rapid-fire announcements seemed unusual, well, that should come as no surprise from a Pope who keeps doing things his way.

GARDEN GROVE, CALIF. - On the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the parish of St. Callistus will have a procession, but not any ordinary procession. This being California, it will be a motorcade. And the congregation won’t be coming back.

Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated: euthanasia is homicide.

On June 12, the Quebec national assembly introduced a bill to legalize euthanasia that is rife with false claims, euphemisms and ambiguous language.

The morning after becoming Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis checked out of his hotel by paying his own bill and then calmly strolled into his new life. It was a novel way to launch a papacy but, then, over his first 100 days the new Pope has been making novelty commonplace.

No one knows exactly how much money is hidden away by millionaires and corporations in offshore bank accounts, but accepted estimates put it as high as $30-trillion dollars. Much of that money is undeclared and untaxed.

The Quebec Court of Appeal recently overturned a provincial human rights commission ruling regarding the opening prayer at Saguenay City Council. The commission had ruled that the mayor, Jean Tremblay, must cease saying the opening prayer and also pay $30,000 in damages to the complainant. The court, however, said the tribunal got it wrong and that the opening prayer did not significantly affect the state’s “religious neutrality” and should therefore be allowed.

Four decades after Henry Morgentaler performed his first abortion to set the country on a path to abortion lawlessness, Canada is still weighing his profound and tragic impact on society. That regrettable truth was apparent in the obituaries after Morgentaler, 90, died May 23 of a heart attack.