A few years ago, on the Word on Fire website, author Andrew Petiprin mused, “Wouldn’t it be a powerful witness if there were new Catholic novels to grab off the newsstand at the airport?”

Barely half of Canadian Roman Catholics have a Bible at home, and only about a third self-report engaging with Scripture monthly, says a study by Angus Reid and two predominantly non-Catholic institutions.

A 2022 poll conducted by the Angus-Reid Institute revealed 52 per cent of Canadians think abortion should be available at any time during a pregnancy. In the absence of a legal framework that places term-limits on the procedure, Canada is one of the handful of countries where women can procure elective abortions up to the moment of delivery.

The Archdiocese of Montreal has issued a strong rebuke to the federal government for the March 25 closure of Roxham Road, the most heavily trafficked “irregular” entry point for asylum seekers located on the Quebec-New York border.

The April 1 funeral for Fr. Robert Assaly at  Montreal’s St. Thomas More Catholic Church featured a rare sight: front pews filled by his large family with his wife Nancy, their children and spouses.

In 1936, English novelist Evelyn Waugh published a short biography of Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr. When an American edition of the book was published 10 years later, Waugh wrote in the preface, “We are nearer Campion than when I wrote of him.” 

Quebec’s Catholic elder statesman of the common good

Last month, for the first time in 25 years, my husband and I spent the night alone in our house. Two nights, in fact. A weekend.

Catholic faithful have witnessed the death of two spiritual giants, Benedict XVI and Cardinal George Pell, within a few short days of each other. The news of Cardinal Pell’s death hit me hard. I can claim no relationship with Pell. I shouldn’t feel the loss personally. But I do, nonetheless.