After a long year of vocal restrictions, students and staff at St. Michael������Ƶapp Choir School are thrilled they’ll be lending their voices to Mass at St. Michael������Ƶapp Cathedral-Basilica again, albeit with safety protocols in place.

For a number of years there was a panhandler standing outside St. Michael������Ƶapp Cathedral in downtown Toronto. His name was Francis. I liked him quite a bit. Which should not be thought of as a given since there are some panhandlers who, over the years, have gotten on my nerves. I know it is not a Christian thing to say but there it is.

When the shocking news broke of the coverup of sexual abuse by priests in Pennsylvania in August, word spread far and fast, with a wave of anger following in its wake.

Matthew Riola was a nervous 12-year-old when he auditioned in 2012 for St. Michael������Ƶapp Choir School. He had no idea he could sing, but his rendition of “O Canada” impressed a group of adults who would soon become his teachers and mentors.

It was as if the sounds of Heaven descended upon Toronto when the Sistine Chapel choir performed at St. Michael's Cathedral Sept. 26.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, Parliament has legislated and provinces have set up new systems. For most Canadians the assisted suicide debate is last year������Ƶapp news story. But Cardinal Gerhard Müller, head of the Catholic Church������Ƶapp theological watchdog-agency, begs to differ.

With about 300 priests concelebrating, dozens of deacons in attendance and an overflow assembly standing in the aisles of St. Michael������Ƶapp Cathedral, the Archdiocese of Toronto re-equipped itself for another year of baptisms, confirmations and ordinations by welcoming the new supply of chrism oil.

Every year St. Michael������Ƶapp Cathedral fields an RCIA class of 20 to 30 for adult baptisms and confirmations. A lot of that success starts on Christmas Day, according to cathedral rector Fr. Michael Busch.