Four years ago, CBS online news posted a story about Down Syndrome in Iceland. Better put, a story about the elimination of all babies in the womb who would likely be born with Down Syndrome.

This is about a single newspaper photograph. The Canadian Press took it on Dec. 10 on the day the House of Commons passed Bill C-7, which expands euthanasia to include more victims.

Once again our Catholic churches are closed in Toronto. Perhaps by the time you are reading this that will have changed. It is unlikely, but possible.

The acceptance of serious allegations swallowed up without proof is an age-old problem. It is also dangerous.

Like many of you I have been addicted to the U.S. presidential election and the strange aftermath of accusations and recriminations about the vote count.

I would not blame you if you sighed in frustration at yet another column about euthanasia. You may think others and myself have made the point repeatedly.

The United States is in the midst of political crisis; divisions among Americans are at a fever pitch. I do not think the country has been this polarized since the Vietnam War era.

I gave a talk some years ago to the Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild of Toronto. It was about the media and religion but because it was the hot issue of the day I spoke in part about the need for the Catholic Church as an institution to do more to combat the then proposed legalization of euthanasia.

Sr. Deirdre Byrne is a remarkable woman. Many of you have heard her life story because of the address she gave to the Republican National Convention in August.

Music is a great comfort. It raises deep issues of the soul and then expresses them in a way most of us never could. Many kinds of music are deeply spiritual, from Gregorian chant to country to rock.