It seemed fitting that Pope Francis began the new year by pointing a spotlight at women, given that integrating women into the everyday running of the Church will be a major theme of the new decade.

From a Catholic perspective, few if any dates were more significant during the soon-to-close decade than  Feb.11, 2013.

With good reason, Canadians generally take it for granted that Christmas is a season of peace and goodwill. We are blessed to live in a country that slows down to let the joy of the season wash over us.

The call went up to have Archbishop Fulton Sheen declared a saint almost from the day he died 40 years ago. So current disappointment at a Vatican directive to touch the brakes on the popular American’s sainthood cause is no surprise, but the decision is appropriate.

If it’s true that the best ideas are often the simplest ones, then give credit to Pope Francis for endorsing an 800-year-old strategy to place Christ at the centre of Christmas.

The poor need our hands to lift them up and give them hope, said Pope Francis on the World Day of the Poor. Three days later, Canada’s new government extended a hand in a different direction when it swore in our first-ever Minister of Middle Class Prosperity. 

Thou shalt not commit ecocide.

An emphatic defence of religious freedom by Ontario politicians was almost enough to set bells ringing at churches — and mosques, synagogues and temples — across the province. 

It may seem odd to be extending congratulations to a committee that exists to protect Catholic educational values merely for doing its job. 

It was a humbled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who indulged the media after his Liberal Party was returned grudgingly to Ottawa with a minority government.