Feature Series

Persecution of Christians has risen for the fourth straight year, says advocacy group

Assyrian Christians, who had fled Syria and Iraq, carry placards and wave Assyrian flags during a gathering in 2015 in front of U.N. headquarters in Beirut.

WASHINGTON – Global persecution of Christians has risen for the fourth year in a row and is on a “rapid rise” in Asia, the advocacy group Open Doors UK warned on Wednesday in its annual report on Christian persecution.

Canada’s Christians lag behind on education levels

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Canadian Christians are less educated than people of other faiths, a new study shows.

Canada’s Christian population is less educated than Canadian Jews, Muslims, Hindus and even those who have no religious affiliation.

Africa takes its place in 21st-century Church

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Africa represents 17 per cent of the world’s total Catholic population of 1.272 billion, up from 13.8 per cent in 2005. Between 2005-14, the continent’s Catholic population grew by 41 per cent, compared to a 24-per-cent increase in its overall population.

The Church, the world and the future are all more African today than they have ever been.

2016 Year in review: walls and bridges

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

In a year marked by war, moral crises and political and religious upheaval, Pope Francis remains steadfast in pleas for mercy and brotherhood.

Over and over throughout 2016, Pope Francis spoke of walls and bridges. It is an apt metaphor for much of what transpired in the Catholic world in 2016.

List of top stories from 2016 reflect wide interests of Register readers

By Catholic Register Staff

The Catholic Register has compiled some of the most popular stories of 2016.

One of the more interesting annual exercises for just about any media website is to see which stories gathered the most attention over the last 12 months.

2016 Christmas Features

By Catholic Register Staff

The Catholic Register's final special section of the year is our Christmas issue! Click here to read all of our holiday special features.

Nativity puts Byzantine art on grand scale at Winnipeg Ukrainian Church

By Catholic Register Staff

This nativity scene above the main entrance to St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church is a rare example of Byzantine iconography in stained glass.

Nativity scenes are common during the Christmas season but few in Canada can match a stained glass window in a Winnipeg church for size and splendour.

Christmas a time to welcome those seeking spiritual refuge

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

St. Michael’s Cathedral sits as a beacon in the heart of the city, a place of welcome and spiritual welcome.

Every year St. Michael’s 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.

AGO exhibit on miniature sculptures built to grow faith

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

This Netherlandish miniature altarpiece portrays a nativity scene and was made 1500 - 1530. Made from boxwood, it measures 15.6 x 13 x 2.9 cm open and 14.7 × 9.6 × 3.9 cm closed. From the Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

If all you want for Christmas is to be more spiritual — pray more deeply, contemplate on a higher plain — there’s a 16th-century app for that.

St. Michael’s Cathedral remains a work in progress

By Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

Fr. Michael Busch, rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral, at left, with Marc Ferguson of Buttcon Ltd., the lead contractor on the renovations the cathedral is undergoing.

St. Michael’s Cathedral re-opened this fall in plenty of time for Christmas, but the rededication was just one milestone in the $128-million restoration of Toronto’s Catholic cathedral. The work continues.