Arts

Diego Luna, Felicity Jones and Jiang Wen star in a scene from the movie "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

NEW YORK – With "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," last year's promising reignition of the iconic franchise, "The Force Awakens," gains a worthy – and equally family-friendly – companion.

Msgr. Vincenzo De Gregorio, director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, is pictured at an organ at the institute in Rome Dec. 6. Msgr. De Gregorio said the Catholic Church tries to make music accessible to the congregation so everyone can participate.

Hark the herald angels: How sacred music evangelizes, lifts up hearts

VATICAN CITY – 'Tis the season for a huge assortment of holiday concerts and carols to choose from, making Advent and Christmas a unique period for reminding people of the evergreen beauty of sacred music.

Composer J.J. Wright says, by looking at the United States as a"mission territory," he has combined the Sacred music tradition of the Church with his passion for jazz.

Sacred music and jazz, one composer's response to Vatican II

ROME, Italy – For American composer J.J. Wright, the Second Vatican Council's call to inculturate the Church's ancient musical traditions into “mission territory” – while preserving its unity – is something he has adopted personally with one of his greatest passions: jazz.

Pope Francis meets U.S. film director Martin Scorsese during a Nov. 30 private audience at the Vatican.

In Jesuit publications, filmmaker Scorsese talks about his faith

ROME – In two long interviews with Jesuit publications, director Martin Scorsese described his new film Silence as a major stage in his pilgrimage of faith, a pilgrimage that included flunking out of the minor seminary, investigating other religions and recognizing that the Catholic Church was his home.

One of St. Michael’s Choir School's choirs at dress rehearsal Dec. 2 for the annual Christmas concert at Massey Hall.

St. Michael's Choir School expanding its musical reach

Since St. Michael's Choir School began pressing albums in the 1970s, those purchasing the choral soundtracks were much like the students – members of an exclusive club.

Jason Taylor, with his puppet characters Opus, left, and Joyous, are out to fill the void in Catholic children video series.

Producer out to fill video void for Catholic kids

Jason Taylor logged on to Facebook one June afternoon and found a post that triggered an idea he long carried in his mind.

Man Up!, the true story of the Boys Club Network, was performed on Parliament Hill at an event sponsored by Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan, who is himself a mentor in the program.

'Man Up!' play brings powerful message of mentoring hopeless young men

OTTAWA – In very dramatic fashion, the Vancouver-based Boys Club Network has taken its case for mentoring programs to Parliament Hill.

There’s a misconception that those in consecrated life are few and far between, but a number of essays in Understanding the Consecrated Life in Canada show this is not the modern reality.

Book Review: Consecrated life isn’t dying, just changing

What is new in Canadian religious life? Actually, a lot.

William Kurelek, seen in this self portrait, is one of the three artists that Herman Goodden explores in his new book. 'Three arists: Kurelek, Chambers and Curone.'

New book chronicles Canadian artists’ lives of faith and search for meaning

If you think of artists as strange, unbalanced, complicated personalities whose natural habitat is somewhere on the margins, Herman Goodden is not about to change your opinion. But if you think books about art and artists are dull, academic, jargon-laden wastes of time, paper and ink, Goodden wants you to think again.

Pope Francis meets U.S. film director Martin Scorsese during a Nov. 30 private audience at the Vatican. The meeting took place the morning after the screening his film, "Silence," for about 300 Jesuits.

Pope Francis meets Martin Scorsese, director of 'Silence,' at Vatican

VATICAN CITY – On Wednesday Pope Francis added world famous director Martin Scorsese to the list of Hollywood stars he has welcomed for a private meeting in the Vatican, following an official Rome preview of Scorsese’s new film Silence.

Philip Davydov, a Russian iconographer, teaches an iconography class at Wesley Theological Seminary, a United Methodist-affiliated school in Washington, D.C.

Iconography classes draw non-Orthodox in search of spiritual images

WASHINGTON – Anna Schalk finds herself weeping each time she enters an Orthodox church and gazes at the flat, colorful icons of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star in a scene from the movie "Allied."

Movie Review: Allied

NEW YORK – Like time travellers from the Golden Age of Hollywood studio films, the characters played by Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in "Allied" (Paramount) don't allow a little event like World War II to muss their elegant coifs.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the movie 'Doctor Strange.'

'Doctor Strange' offers a taste of spiritual medicine

Scott Derickson’s new film, Doctor Strange, has received rave reviews for its special-effects, its compelling story-telling, and the quality of its actors, but I would like to focus on the spirituality implicit in it. Doctor Strange is far from a satisfying presentation of the spiritual order, but it represents a significant step in the right direction, which proves especially helpful for our time.

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