When Carl Hétu was a teenager growing up in Quebec, he recalls a conversation he had with his father that helped shape the man he would become. 

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is first of all a shepherd who makes seeking out the lost and forgotten his top priority. But he also knows that wherever he goes, the cameras and news coverage will follow.

VATICAN CITY – People cannot sit back and be indifferent or unresponsive to growing poverty in the world as a privileged minority accumulates "ostentatious wealth," Pope Francis said.

In reaching out to Catholic schools and students, ShareLife’s aim goes far beyond raising money.

OTTAWA - Faith communities must stay hopeful and engaged to ensure governments live up to climate change commitments, says the leader of the United Church of Canada’s delegation to COP21.

UNITED NATIONS - In the warm afterglow of Pope Francis’ Sept 25 address to the General Assembly, veteran United Nations’ observers drew a starkly candid road map of urgent actions that the world body must take to achieve its security agenda.

WASHINGTON - A sign at the entrance to the exhibit warns of the shocking nature of the images beyond — photos smuggled out of Syria that show emaciated and grotesquely mutilated victims of dictator Bashar Assad’s prisons and torture chambers.

Romeo Maione was all talk but it was glorious talk, talk that made things happen. Mr. Maione used every podium and platform he could find to make the Church real and alive in the world.

Romeo Maione was all talk but it was glorious talk, talk that made things happen. Mr. Maione used every podium and platform he could find to make the Church real and alive in the world.

Encyclicals are important for Catholics. Our theologians study them. Our pastors preach them. Sometimes we even read them.

But there has never been an encyclical like the yet-to-be published papal letter on the environment and climate change due out next month. Even the editorial board of The New York Times is waiting with baited breath. “The Pope is right to speak up for our planet, and the greater the impact the better,” the newspaper wrote in its April 29 editorial.

OXFORD, England - An international report has warned that Christians face worsening mistreatment worldwide and called for "urgent action" by Western governments and church leaders.

TORONTO - Having their views heard on a world stage has made students from a Toronto Catholic high school realize their voice on climate change does matter.

Despite a distressing RCMP report on violence against native women and the recent murder of a female aboriginal teenager, calls for a public inquiry are misguided. Canadians don’t need an expensive, long-winded, politically driven talk-fest on native issues. The facts are already in. It’s time now for leadership and action.