Relative to its population, Canada is punching above its weight at the Synod on Synodality, currently in its second week in Rome.

With the completion of the opening days of the Synod on Synodality having taken place in Rome, a few observations can be offered.

While the doors of the Synod on Synodality, taking place in the Vatican Oct. 4-29, are closed to journalists and the public, a group of survivors of sexual abuse anxiously awaits news on how the assembly addresses the clerical sexual abuse that affected their lives so painfully.

A two-part special feature section exploring how the church brings light and hope to the dark places of addiction and human trafficking.

The formation of seminarians, the Catholic Church as a welcoming home for all, migration and ecumenism arose as common themes of discussion among participants of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 6, the Vatican said.

On my first day upon returning to work at St. Michael’s Hospital as a hospital priest, I was wondering what things would be like in my role. On the jammed subway, suddenly I found myself reflecting on Jesus’ words — “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37).

Claire and Ronnie de la Gana are a couple on a mission. Married for 27 years, the couple have put faith and community service at the centre of their marriage and family life.

For 50 years of vowed religious life, Sr. Carolyn Heil, the sole Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) living in Canada, has been committed to radiate the love of Christ as an educator to Canadian and American youth and retreat participants in Ontario.

In a little corner of the cavernous basement of Mary Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal, Fr. Jean-Pierre Couturier has spent every Thursday of the last 25 years mending shoes.