Watching World Youth Day from afar, my favourite moment was the address of Pope Francis to the Argentine youth — a meeting he had specially asked to be added to the schedule. Some 5,000 packed the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian, while another 30,000 waited outside in the rain. The Holy Father gave what is becoming a hallmark of his new pontificate — an address that was spontaneous and passionate that left everyone energized, even if a little unsure of what he meant.

Public deserves to know about $50-million expenditure

Our kids need, and deserve, better protection from adult online content, MP argues

The summer is normally a time for rest and relaxation. But one question that has been coming to me lately is how can Christians find true rest, serenity of heart from fear, when we face human and natural tragedies.

It is both proper and gratifying to see the success of World Youth Day in Rio as a massive, marvelous “yes” to Christian faith.

I write just as Pope Francis has arrived in Rio, before any of the major events have taken place. Yet on his travelling day alone, one already sees the hallmarks of reporting on this pontificate — a focus on style over substance.

The two things the world learned about the Holy Father’s departure and arrival was that he carried his own hand luggage on to the plane, and that his more informal motorcade in Rio got lost amid the joyous throngs. Interesting, but irrelevant to what Francis wants the world to hear about Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis is a genuinely humble man of simple tastes, who desires that nothing get in the way of the proclamation of the Gospel. So it must bother him when his comportment draws even more attention to himself, especially when it involves implicit invidious comparisons to his predecessors...

It never fails to amaze me how much the secular media loves to take shots at the Church. Pope Francis offering indulgences — or opportunity for forgiveness of sins — to those following him on Twitter during World Youth Day festivities in Rio de Janeiro is the latest hit and gigglefest for the media.

In research described as “sure to inflame the gender wars,” a study funded by the U.K. government suggests women around the world, and especially in Canada, are significantly more ignorant of current affairs and politics than men.

KRAKOW, POLAND - The approval by Pope Francis of a miracle worked through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II was met with great joy in the Polish pope’s hometown, where nary a church can be found without an image of the blessed. Indeed, just last month the John Paul II Be Not Afraid Centre — a religious, educational and cultural complex on the grounds of the Divine Mercy shrine — was dedicated, the crypt chapel of which already contains the relics of John Paul II. So there was joy at the announcement, but not much surprise, even though at less than nine years after his death John Paul’s canonization will set a modern record.

To read the coverage and study the ghastly pictures from the Quebec village of Lac Mégantic is to know that hearts must be asking where was God during this tragedy.