NAIROBI, Kenya - Some church leaders are criticizing a British musicians’ charity group raising funds for the West African Ebola crisis, saying its new single reinforces negative stereotypes of Africa.

NEW YORK - Was there a secret plot to elect Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio at the papal conclave last year? Did Bergoglio — who became Pope Francis at that conclave — give the go-ahead to such a plan? And does that campaign call his election, and his papacy, into question?

Catholic Register columnist Robert Brehl teamed up with Hazel McCallion to write the life story of the remarkable woman who served Mississauga as mayor for 36 years. In this excerpt from Hurricane Hazel: A Life with Purpose, Brehl and McCallion delve into the important role faith played in her political life.

Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It by Jennifer Fulwiler (Ignatius Press, hardcover, 248 pages, $25.95).

When God answered Jennifer Fulwiler’s prayers, she was upset. It was just another confirmation for the former, self-proclaimed militant atheist that God does in fact exist.

The third and most ambitious staging yet of playwright Adam Seybold’s play The De Chardin Project begins with an image of sin. Fr. Teilhard De Chardin, played by Cyrus Lane, wakes up on a bare, black stage beside a broken tea cup. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got there and he can make out nothing of his surroundings except the broken china.

TORONTO - Fans of the fancy fiddle work of Ontario’s very own Donnell Leahy will have three chances to see the Lakefield native perform in Toronto this holiday season.

TORONTO - Even after performing Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for almost four decades, Patricia Krueger says the music from this Christmas classic never gets old.

TORONTO - St. Michael’s Choir School brings Christmas, real Christmas, in six-part polyphony, to Toronto’s Massey Hall for the 49th time this Dec. 6 and 7. But if you haven’t managed to buy a $20 to $50 ticket yet, you could head down to Shuter Street and look for a scalper.

I take seriously the call to stewardship of our environment and respect for God’s creation as a whole. So I was excited to delve into a new study guide produced by the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.