Canadians are likely to face our next federal election within a few months or even weeks.  Given the number of challenges facing Canada and the world, now is the time for us to start thinking carefully about how we will approach that election.

The woman had come to the end.  She had barely escaped from her country with her life, and was reeling from the profound rejection of her people.  Miraculously, she and her husband had made their way to Canada, but he compounded the rejection through constant infidelities.  With his PTSD, he couldn’t work, and there was almost no work during the Depression anyway, so a priest friend gave the woman bus fare to New York City to find a way to support her husband and child.  The poverty was biting:  for shelter, she rented a room with five other women who had shift work in a laundry.  Ravaging hunger was constant, so she sought waitressing work instead, hoping for food, but the sexual harassment there was unendurable.  ThatöÏÓãÊÓƵapp when she reached the end and found herself on the Brooklyn Bridge, peering into the water and poised to jump.  

In the year of our Lord 2025 there is a particular historical event that should be on hearts and minds of all: the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

How fortunate it was for me to start this important year of remembrance on the right note by reading Canadian Catholic author Ben GaleskiöÏÓãÊÓƵapp new book Through Whom the Light Shines.

In the early days of Pope Francis’ pontificate, Mary Ann Glendon unexpectedly encountered the Holy Father at Casa Marta on her way down to breakfast.

Glendon was in Rome for meetings of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, of which she had been president since 2004.

J.R.R. TolkienöÏÓãÊÓƵapp Middle-earth — the world of The Lord of the Rings and now the new animated film The War of the Rohirrim — was born, first and foremost, from TolkienöÏÓãÊÓƵapp intense and lifelong love for language.

Discounting the brief wave and greeting I directed to Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo when I viewed him touring The Catholic RegisteröÏÓãÊÓƵapp office on Yonge Street from the comfort of my remote workspace in Calgary, I first enjoyed a full-on interaction with the now Cardinal this past January.

For the most part, we can say the Catholic Church has done its share to make this a better world, and done this very well despite a few hiccups here and there.

Never has this generation been subjected to such a barrage of disinformation and misinformation as has been generated surrounding the current Israeli military assault on the people of Gaza.

"Why do men become beasts?"

The question was asked by South African Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale. In a speech last August, he was warning men that they will be held accountable for the treatment of women. "The Son of God will make us pay for all the things we have done, or not done," the archbishop said.

Pope Francis has always shown deep sensitivity to the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide. Since the beginning of his pontificate, he has regularly spoken out in defence of these vulnerable communities, highlighting the injustices and suffering they endure. Whether in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, or other regions marked by conflict and violence, the Holy Father has expressed his unconditional support, urging the international community to intervene to protect the faithful.