In a fine interview following the recent synagogue killings in Pittsburgh, Ottawa’s Rabbi Reuven Bulka offered wisdom that went far beyond the specific act of terrible bloodshed. 

From Oct. 3-28, our YSN reporting team followed the discussions taking place in Rome at the Synod of Bishops on young people. Below, a few members from across the country share their own thoughts. 

Religion has not always been a woman’s ally. 

As delegates from nearly 80 countries gathered in Toronto for the Parliament of the World’s Religions they were confronted with the common failure of all the world’s faiths — the failure to find peace.

Cardinal Paul-Emile Leger was Canada’s most prominent prelate in the 1950s and ‘60s. Surprisingly, he resigned Nov. 9, 1967 and for the next 24 years, until his death in 1991 at age 87, he dedicated himself to service in the Third World, though he returned to Montreal several times. Here is how he explained his departure in The Register issue of Nov. 18, 1967. 

ROME – The president of the Canadian bishops’ conference called the Synod of Bishops a “powerful experience” which he hopes will make him a better bishop.

“I have been half in love with easeful Death.” So wrote poet John Keats two centuries ago. For him it was sorrowful, yet his succinct sentence could well describe our current perspective in this country. 

I have left the Church many times, but now I can say with certainty that I will remain with the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church for the rest of my life.

The following is an abridged version of Bishop Barron’s recent presentation at the Synod of Bishops on young people:

Khristine Florend is ready to be a true witness to her faith after attending Toronto’s first-ever young adult conference.

I grew up far away from my current home in Vancouver. My parents, Mauro and Gertrude Dsouza, made their home in Bangalore, India, and my childhood was filled with storybooks, swimming pools, piano classes and ballet lessons. Not to forget about school! 

After we are small children, it is rare that we are carried. Perhaps for a joke or dare, a photo-op at a threshold, maybe in the case of injury, or in certain situations in old age? My baby is big enough now I rarely carry his full weight unless he is asleep.

The summer had been warm and humid, and unlike many churches that can afford air conditioning, the church on the street had to find its own way of surviving the muggy evenings.