How would you describe the effect of Pope Francis’ July visit to Canada on your faith? We have waited in anticipation over the past few months for Pope Francis to make his “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada this summer. The Pope decided to prioritize his ministry of caring for those who have been hurt by the Church. He chose to “set his face to go to” (Luke 9: 51) Canada “in the name of Jesus to meet and embrace the Indigenous Peoples.” 

We need that meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis. It’s a shame the Russian Orthodox Patriarch has backed out at the last minute.

When my husband recently went on a work trip for four days, our daughter started to act out more at the same time. Or perhaps she was just being her regular three-year-old self and I noticed it more. I called a friend through tears.

The Pope’s visit to Canada and apology to Indigenous peoples was a profound occasion for our country. His visit also raises important questions about the proper relationship between political and religious institutions. 

I have never had an easy devotion to Mother Mary. For most of my life it has felt rather contrived. There are a few possible reasons. Growing up in a bookish household meant that spiritual and intellectual pursuits were closely intertwined and many of the expressions of Marian piety were viewed as populist pablum. My mother is a convert and is naturally suspicious of anything smacking of folk religion. My father kept a Rosary in the drawer of his bedside table, but the placement was strategic. He once explained to me that the counting of the beads was a useful sleep aid.

“For a nation seemingly set on making people have babies, we sure don’t want to invest in them.”

The protection of persecuted Christians (and other faith minorities) is not at the summit of the Canadian government’s priorities. This was glaringly obvious to me as I attended the Summit on International Religious Freedom, hosted recently in Washington by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Remember that old expression, “you are like the dog that caught the car?” It’s what you say to someone who has focused so much on achieving a certain goal that they never thought about what they would do if successful. 

Reading the lives of the saints to learn about the saints is short changing yourself. Whatever glimpse of a saint may peek through the frequently dull, awkward and even inscrutable prose of a typical hagiography is mostly valuable for what it teaches us about ourselves.

There is perhaps no more apt word to describe the grim advance of euthanasia legislation in Canada than that of juggernaut. The word derives from the Sanskrit, Jagannātha, and translates as Lord of the world, and is one of the titles used for Krishna, a Hindu god.