The federal government came under attack earlier this month because of leaked reports that it was preparing a Defence of Religions Act to deal with the disappointing fallout from Ottawa’s change to the legal definition of marriage. Now that it is out of the bottle, the same-sex marriage genie grows larger and uglier with each passing day.

It is nasty and brutish out there. And I am not talking about the world of international politics or the world of colliding ideologies. I am talking about the world of inter-Catholic relations.

Pope Benedict XVI told the Ontario bishops during their September ad limina visit to the Vatican, that, "In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children."

The immediate furor in the Islamic world over Pope Benedict's University of Regensburg speech has abated, thanks largely to the Vatican's efforts to reassure Muslims that nothing has changed in the Catholic Church's attitude toward Islam. What continues, however, is the universal media characterization of the Pope's reference to Islam and violence — The Quote — as a gaffe.

Last week, I went to see director Neil Burger's seductively charming (and faintly sinister) new film The Illusionist. The story has to do with a young magician (excellent Edward Norton) in Vienna, circa 1900, who falls in love with a titled aristocrat (Jessica Biel), much to the annoyance of the lady's suitor, the Austrian crown prince (Rufus Sewell). This tale is intriguing and the photography is sumptuous — though that's not why I am bringing up the film now.