In a parish discussion — a mini-synod, you might say — we had a roundtable talk about whether people would return to Church once pandemic restrictions ended. One young participant saw it this way: “If the Church has something people need, why wouldn’t they return?”

On June 3, 1886, the Feast of the Ascension, St. Charles Lwanga and companions were martyred. They were pages for King Mwanga, a pedophilic and violent ruler in Uganda who forced himself onto his young attendants.

On the ceiling above what used to be the front counter of the Blackbird Coffee House in Coleman, Alta., is a striking fresco depicting Jesus clothed in red, kneeling in the Garden of Gethsemane. His right arm reaches delicately towards an angel.

Thank you to Winnipeg’s Archbishop Richard Gagnon, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, for daring to state that that a malaise is affecting the Church in this country because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes, even the obvious does not become real until it is named, and Archbishop Gagnon has done that in comments published in last week’s Catholic Register.

Fifth Sunday of Easter May 10 (Year A) Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 33; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12

The period of serene apostolic simplicity and unity did not last long.

VATICAN CITY -- Like the apostles who brought spiritual and physical healing to those in need, Christians are called to tend to the wounds of the suffering and the downtrodden, Pope Francis said.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Catholic leaders canceled Sunday Masses as Sri Lanka’s churches remained closed for a second week for fear of new terrorist attacks after the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed more than 250 people.

Young people rediscovering sacred music, learning the beauty of the pipe organ and young women veiling for Mass.

A third of Canada’s Christian architecture, some 9,000 churches, will close in the next 10 years, according to the National Trust for Canada.

MONTREAL – Father Claude Grou, the rector of St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal who was stabbed during a Mass March 22, has been released from the hospital.

In Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, the church of Hallgrímur (Hallgrímskirkja) towers above the city. It is the tallest church in Iceland, rising almost 75 metres. Locals boast that you can see its spire from almost anywhere in the city — like a compass of sorts.

VATICAN – While European bishops discuss how to bring young people back to the Church at the 2018 Synod of Bishops, one bishop from Cameroon said that he has the opposite problem.

VATICAN – To strengthen and support young people in the faith, members of the Synod of Bishops will need to listen to their real-life stories, interpret what they hear in the light of the Gospel and make decisions that will lead to an authentic renewal of the Catholic Church, said Brazilian Cardinal Sergio da Rocha.

VANCOUVER – Catholics in the Diocese of Whitehorse, Yukon, sought assistance after a devastating wildfire in Telegraph Creek, British Columbia, destroyed a mission church, rectory and homes.

VATICAN – For its debut at the "Biennale di Venezia" International Architecture Exhibition, the Vatican commissioned 10 renowned architects from around the world to turn a small wooded plot on an island in the Venetian lagoon into a spiritual-artistic pilgrimage of chapels.