Softening is a curious thing. We soften water, counteracting metals and minerals that stain and damage our clothing. We soften edges, to prevent slivers and injuries. We soften butter, to stop it from tearing through bread. 

In the few weeks since the revelations of Fr. Thomas Rosica’s long history of plagiarism, it has been a prime topic of conversation in Canadian Catholic circles, and not a few of my Catholic Register readers have asked for my view. 

One of the most contentious debates involving Church figures of the 20th century involves the actions of Pope Pius XII during World War II. 

Years ago I lived in Wakefield, Que., a rural area about 40 minutes north of Ottawa in the Gatineau Hills. Many of the people who lived there plied a trade — carpenter, potter, painter and such. 

The heart of the Ottawa imbroglio over SNC-Lavalin can be found in remembering the time Justin Trudeau elbowed a female MP aside to get what he wanted.

To much of the world, Britain’s clumsy exit from the European Union, slated to begin March 29, is somewhat of a joke. But to the people of a divided Ireland, particularly Catholics and Protestants in the North, it’s a threat to peace.

Former federal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has become a Canadian hero for her courage in resisting political pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to interfere in a court case against the Montreal-based contractor SNC-Lavalin.

The immediate reaction to the mid-February news that Australian Cardinal George Pell was found guilty of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choir boys was that, in addition to any sentence the courts pronounce, the Vatican should move quickly to expel him from the priesthood.

I was recently tagged on a Twitter post in what has been called the Book Challenge. If invited, the recipient is asked to post a cover of an all-time favourite book, with no explanation or description of the choice. Just seven covers over seven days, and with each post the recipient is asked to nominate someone new to take up the challenge — a chain letter, of sorts, for the 21st century. 

In a pastoral letter on stewardship, Cardinal Thomas Collins suggests that in order to discover what is really important to us, we should look at how we spend our money.