A new report from the Angus Reid Institute showing poverty may be a bigger problem than official statistics indicate is ramping up pressure on Ottawa to unveil a federal poverty reduction strategy.

During his life, St. Francis of Assisi was known as the "poverello,” or the poor man who renounced the world to live for Jesus alone.

It may be time to consider closing Out of the Cold, said the man responsible for managing the 30-year-old church-based shelter program.

Since 2009, Edmonton, along with 12 other Canadian cities, has been implementing a Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. Unlike other “plans,” this one does not merely set a target and hope it comes true; solid work is being done to provide housing and prevent future homelessness.

Socks, toothpaste, tampons, tissues and a handwritten note from a teenager aren’t likely to rewrite a life story that includes  sleeping in shelters, seeking comfort in opioids and waking up in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital. 

WARSAW, Poland – Growing poverty among young people across Europe is impeding access to fundamental rights and intensifying feelings of injustice and hopelessness, a new report warns. 

Some nights it does not take long for the temperature to plummet. I don’t mean the thermometer, but the temperature of the street. 

There are 3.9 billion people hungry or malnourished, including over 800 million who are so chronically underfed they’re actually dying for lack of nutrients, which is why Development and Peace is still asking Canadian Catholics for money.

Recently I found myself in the basement of a downtown church surrounded by a confirmation class of children, teachers and parents. The church sits in an area where the outreach of the Church on the Street is most challenging, and the class had responded to the call of Pope Francis in The Joy of the Gospel: “We cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings; we need to move from a passive ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral mission.” 

EDMONTON – Poverty is a main cause of imprisonment and largely affects Canada’s Aboriginal community, according to a new research paper by the coordinator of pastoral care for the Archdiocese of Edmonton.