At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church wiped its hands of its “long century” of defensive reaction to the modern world and climbed into what it hoped would be a new era of dialogue. However, it takes (at least) two to dialogue and over the last 50 years the Church’s willingness to talk about important issues has not often been reciprocated by the secular world.

Almost six years ago The Catholic Register reported that the world’s 193rd nation came into being as a That was South Sudan in 2011 facing an uncertain future.

At the end of the last millennium, gay marriage was not yet a reality and the idea of legalized euthanasia was considered ridiculous. Abortion was of course an issue, but there seemed some hope that the lawless practice would at least become regulated.

It was bad enough when the federal Liberals reversed Conservative policy and began using taxpayer money to fund overseas abortions. But a much bolder edict that will now see Canada help bankroll efforts by some foreign groups to overturn anti-abortion laws in Africa and other developing nations is a step way too far.

The Pope’s recent musings about the possibility of older, married men someday being ordained as priests is all about math, not theology, doctrine or politics.

One unanticipated consequence of the election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States has been the rediscovery of a seminal novel first published in 1949. According to The New York Times, George Orwell’s 1984 is being reprinted around the world and is at the top of bestseller lists.

Pope Francis has been commended frequently as a forceful advocate for reform regarding the Church’s response to clerical sex abuse. But the resignation of a female member of the commission he established to steer those reforms has cast a shadow over his good intentions.

It was a story that slipped through public consciousness like a shadow, first ominous then quickly evaporated and forgotten.

March 7 is the feast day for Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas — the patron saints of mothers and expectant mothers — and the story of these two courageous martyrs is appropriate to reflect upon.

As Canadians debate how we should respond to a surge in asylum seekers crossing southern borders, Catholics should reflect on recent words from Pope Francis about what he calls the scandal of hypocrisy.