Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, son of migrants to Canada and head of the Vatican department that works on behalf of migrants and refugees, took possession of his parish in a heavily immigrant neighbourhood of Rome Jan. 19.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals reviewed aspects of the draft of the apostolic constitution that would govern the Roman Curia, including a greater role for lay men and women.

OTTAWA -- A Jesuit high school in Montreal is bursting with pride that one of its own is now a cardinal in the Catholic Church.

It may be 30 years since Cardinal Michael Czerny left the Jesuit-run Central American University in El Salvador, but it’s not a place that has forgotten him.

Canada’s newest cardinal insists he has no idea why the Pope of surprises invited him, a priest, to enter the College of Cardinals. But to anyone familiar with the resume of Cardinal Michael Czerny, the answer seems obvious.

About 1.5 million Canadian stories begin at Pier 21 in Halifax. Cardinal Michael Czerny’s is one of them.

“It’s a daunting thing, but it’s a wonderful opportunity too,” Cardinal Michael Czerny told The Catholic Register as he prepared for a whirlwind Oct. 4-6 weekend: ordained a bishop on Friday, elevated to the College of Cardinals on Saturday and engaged as a special secretary to the Synod on the Amazon on Sunday.

VATICAN CITY -- In a ceremony in which Canadian Michael Czerny was installed as a cardinal, Pope Francis reminded new and old members of the College of Cardinals how much their ministry and service depends on their realizing how much God loves them and has been compassionate with them.

VATICAN CITY -- Ordaining four new bishops, Pope Francis reminded them that a bishop is first and foremost an apostle, not an administrator who doles out dull discourses.

ROME -- Cardinal-designate Michael Czerny, a Canadian Jesuit priest who is one of Pope Francis’ point men responsible for the pastoral care and political advocacy for migrants and refugees, calls becoming a cardinal “an intensification” of his ministry.

The Pope, who is full of surprises, has done it again by announcing that a Canadian Jesuit priest will join 12 archbishops and bishops who will be made cardinals next month in Rome.