Arts

Wim Wenders, 2014

Q&A: Wim Wender's unexpected film on the Pope

In a remarkable life that has progressed from studying film to reviewing films to making films, Wim Wenders has documented the lives of forgotten Cuban jazz musicians (in Buena Vista Social Club), explored the value of truth (in Paris, Texas) asked what really makes us human (in Wings of Desire) and shown us the value of making something, even something as impermanent as dance (in Pina).

German filmmaker Wim Wenders is pictured in this undated photo with Pope Francis during the production of his documentary film, "Pope Francis -- A Man of His Word." The film was compiled from four long sit-down sessions with the pope and from clips of the pope at the Vatican and abroad. It is scheduled for release in theaters May 18.

Film shows Pope Francis is true to the Word

All of us who read this newspaper know that in the beginning was the Word. We all know that the Word was with God and the Word was God. But do we take this description of basic reality seriously enough to concede that the Word has real, practical meaning? 

Jesuit priests hear confessions at the Martyr’s Shrine, near Midland, Ontario, Canada, circa 1955.

Book review: Jesuit history is ripe for the picking

Conscience of a Nation: Jesuits in English Canada (1842-2016), Jesuit History Series vol. 3., edited by Jacques Monet, S.J. (Novalis, softcover, 224 pages, $34.95)

Among the women profiled in A Woman's Voice is Sr. Helen Prejean, a prominent death penalty activist.

Documentary celebrates women’s voice in the Church

The role of a woman in the Church does not have to be second best. 

Jason Taylor is a media producer in Ontario’s Bruce County who is using the children’s program The Opus Joyous Show to teach kids about faith. Targeted at kids five to 12, Taylor is ready to release the first episode on his website (OpusJoyous.com) and will stream the first five episodes on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and FORMED.

Canadian producer launches Catholic children's show

If we can teach children the importance of sharing and tidying up through a cheerful song on a TV show, then why can’t we use this same medium to teach them about the faith?

Leah Perrault and daughter Robyn (holding baby brother Atticus) of Holy Family Cathedral Parish in Saskatoon worked together to write a Lenten resource for families entitled Practicing Love. 

Saskatoon mom and daughter team up for prayer book

SASKATOON – Leah Perrault was already the author of two books when a publisher approached her last summer about writing a family-oriented resource book for Lent.

Jim Caviezel, centre, prepared to play Luke through and receiving the Eucharist.

Prayer, Eucharist prepares Jim Caviezel for latest biblical role

Since he shot to fame 14 years ago after playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s religious blockbuster The Passion of Christ, Jim Caviezel has turned down several biblical roles. 

The St. John’s Bible onstage at Kitchener’s Centre in the Square as the Grand Philharmonic Choir performed Handel’s Messiah.

St. John's Bible illuminates the Word of God

Kids like picture books. So why should children’s Bibles be any different?

Peter and Jesus in a scene from the 2017 Passion Play.

Passion Play casts characters in new light

If Mary Magdalene could retell the story of Jesus’ resurrection, what would she say?

L’Arche began when Jean Vanier was introduced to two men with disabilities through a priest friend, Father Thomas Philippe, in France.

New documentary tells the story of L’Arche and Canadian founder Jean Vanier

Denver, Colo. – The French documentary “Summer in the Forest” depicts the lives of four disabled men and their unlikely friend: a philosopher born into a powerful and distinguished Canadian family, Jean Vanier.
Master iconographer and art restorer Roumen Kirinkov offers the iconography course at the Sheptytsky Institute.

Praying with paint: Iconography as a conversation with God

Love and pictures go together. You can piece together who and what anybody loves by the pictures on their phone, the pictures they hang on their walls, the pictures pinned to their cubicle at work and the pictures they’ve posted to Facebook.

Josef Svoboda is an Arctic ecologist and professor emeritus in biology at the University of Toronto. He migrated to Canada in 1968, fleeing from the communist regime of Czechoslovakia.

A biologist's epic tale from a Communist regime to the Canadian Arctic

Wine from Raisins, A Life Transformed through Communist Gulag to Canadian Arctic by Josef Svoboda (Novalis, softcover, 240 pages, $27.95)
As the 45-year-old mother of seven home-schooled children living on a working farm, and juggling her touring and recording, MacMaster has learned to plan for prayer and plan for music.

'It's the Lord, working through the music,' Catholic fiddler Natalie MacMaster says

Whether or not St. Thomas Aquinas really said “he who sings prays twice,” it’s true.
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