A Vatican archivist discovered a letter to Pope Pius XII's personal secretary from a Jesuit priest in Germany, who was active in the resistance against the Nazis, reporting that thousands of Poles and Jews were being incinerated daily in a Polish concentration camp.

The latest book on Pope Pius XII, the first to include material from the complete archives up to 1958, repeats a lot of old news, but adds some interesting detail about the culture and politics of the papal court during the Second World War, according to a Canadian scholar who wrote a landmark biography of the wartime pope.

As Canada commemorates Remembrance Day, a group of university students plan to conduct their own research of the World Wars.

NEW YORK – In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - To overcome fear, discrimination and conflict, people must have a deep desire to open themselves up to God and his mercy, and work actively for peace every day, Pope Francis said.

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's Catholic Church has urged a fitting tribute to hundreds of its priests who died during World War II at the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany.

KEARNY, N.J. - An act of valor by four men of faith 70 years ago at the height of World War II can serve as an inspiration for people today, the head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

JERUSALEM - New text in an exhibit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial offers a less-critical assessment of the actions of Pope Pius XII in dealing with the Nazi persecution of Jews during World War II.

While the new text still points to Pope Pius' prominent role in the church's negotiations with Nazi officials, it paints a more complex picture of the situation decades ago.

Still, the new text includes criticism of the Vatican for not opening its archives to allow historians to research the actions of the Holy See at the time, noting that until researchers have access to "all relevant" materials the topic will "remain open to further inquiry."

The other day, I finished a terrific page-turner and then picked up the newspaper to read about the latest attacks on the Christian faith, this time in Saskatchewan. They were two seemingly unrelated things that really got me thinking, searching deep down.

The book is best-seller Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand about a courageous American airman during the Second World War. If you’ve not read it, pick it up because it’s difficult to put down. But let’s talk about Saskatchewan first.

Most 16-year-olds worry about getting good grades and maintaining friendships. Vera Schiff’s main concern was to stay alive.

Schiff shared her story to an audience of young adults at an April 23 Faith Connections’ Theology on Tap event where she discussed her spiritual resistance in a concentration camp. Between 1942 and 1945, she was held at the Theresienstadt camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, where she endured many hardships but found ways to maintain her humanity.