Scores of Catholic nuns bought, sold and bartered enslaved people in 19th century America, The New York Times unveiled in a fascinating in-depth account written by New York University professor Rachel Swarns.

I have always wondered what the conversation between Jesus and an image consultant would be like. 

YORBA LINDA, CALIF. -- The Apollo space program was heavy on Scripture in its great public moments. In the live television broadcast on Christmas Eve 1968, the three astronauts read from Genesis 1:1-10: “In the beginning God created….”

In the spring I took a course to become a hospice volunteer. After spending 12 years railing against euthanasia, both in newspaper articles and through talks, I thought it was time to put my beliefs into concrete action. 

Authors of dystopian novels are bound to get a lot wrong. After all, they are looking into what they believe will be a dark future which is inherently unpredictable. The year 1984, for example, turned out to be nothing like George Orwell’s famous novel of the same name.

At a recent barbeque, I was telling a long-time friend about a Colombian bishop who planned to exorcise his crime-ridden city of demons by dropping holy water from a helicopter.

Belfast, Northern Ireland -- In the mid-19th century, St. Malachy’s Church on Alfred Street added to its existing structure the largest bell in a city full of Catholic churches and Protestant houses of worship.

Detailed knowledge of our liturgical rites is sometimes derided as arcane or obscure. It’s true that sometimes liturgical matters are arcane and obscure. But in the liturgy lie lessons which teach us about important matters which are neither obscure nor arcane. Thus it is good to know the ins and outs of such matters.

Being here is so much harder than it seems. 

It’s a frustrating paradox. The Canadian government’s carbon tax is a bold, brave move that models to the rest of the world how to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, cabinet has approved the Trans Mountain pipeline, a project that flies in the face of the carbon tax and other measures to combat climate change.