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Thirty-five years ago this month, Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Canada. The impact of those 12 days in September hasn’t been forgotten.

KRAKOW, Poland – The pastoral care of families was one of the key areas of discussion for Poland's bishops in their latest plenary assembly, which focused on continuity between the teaching of St. John Paul II and Pope Francis.

WARSAW, Poland – A Lithuanian archbishop who was murdered with a lethal injection after 16 years in prisons and labor camps was to become the first Catholic martyr from the country's communist era to be declared blessed.

Bigoted. Patriarchal. Sexist.

We’ve all heard the way some people talk about the Catholic Church — in our schools, at work, in the mainstream media or on the Internet. They say itöÏÓãÊÓƵapp an ancient institution, stuck in the past, left behind by modern progress in womenöÏÓãÊÓƵapp rights.

VATICAN CITY – As Cardinal Roger Etchegaray leaves Rome to retire to France, his homeland, an era has closed.

Fidel Castro is dead. CanadaöÏÓãÊÓƵapp prime minister, whose father was an admirer and friend of the tyrant, is struck with grief, but it is not widely shared. FidelöÏÓãÊÓƵapp death is an advance for Cuba. A more significant step forward will be when FidelöÏÓãÊÓƵapp brother Raul, to whom power was handed over in 2006, follows his brother into eternity.

VATICAN CITY – As Pope Francis was getting ready to head to Poland this week, he had this message for the hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims gathering there for World Youth Day.

VATICAN CITY - Helping to inaugurate an exhibit at the Vatican, the chief rabbi of Rome noted just how much "times have changed."

TORONTO - When Pope Francis talks about dialogue heöÏÓãÊÓƵapp not advancing an agenda or solving the political problems of the Church, SaskatoonöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Bishop Don Bolen told audiences in Waterloo, Ont., and Toronto at a pair of lectures on ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.

I once found myself in a room full of photographers forced to make a passionate defence of the Pope. It was an odd sort of defence. I was defending the PopeöÏÓãÊÓƵapp right to look frail, weak, lost and vulnerable in public.

I had the pleasure this past week of hosting George Weigel, one of the ChurchöÏÓãÊÓƵapp leading public intellectuals, in Toronto and Kingston. I had long wanted to host Weigel, a mentor and friend and colleague for more than 20 years, and thought that 2015, the 10th anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II, would be the perfect year to do it.

WASHINGTON - Everyone has a high opinion of Pope Francis. Well, almost everyone.

The news cycle is like a popularity contest — and Pope Francis is winning.

VATICAN CITY - With the canonizations of John XXIII and John Paul II, 80 former popes have been declared saints. The vast majority came from the early days of the Church, when many popes were martyred. Here are 10 of the more interesting sainted popes: