Just when one thinks the current president of the United States can’t do anything more brazen, he trumps that belief and goes one further.

VATICAN – The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out in unison with thousands of other church bells around the world Sunday as Pope Francis commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I.

QUEBEC CITY – Churches of the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke will join those of other churches across Canada and ring their bells 100 times Nov. 11 to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

This year, Remembrance Day takes on an extra special aura, as Nov. 11 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Close to 61,000 Canadians lost their lives in the conflict and another 172,000 were wounded. The Canadian Chaplaincy Service was a vital part of the war effort, with close to 450 clergy serving overseas. Among them were 90 Catholic priests who were never far from the front lines. The Catholic Register kept its readers informed with updates from the Chaplaincy Service. The following is the report in the Oct. 31, 1918 issue.

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Churches of all denominations across Canada are being asked to participate in the Royal Canadian Legion’s Bells of Peace at sunset on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.

This Remembrance Day will almost certainly be unforgettable for an 11-year-old Thornhill, Ont., student — in more ways than one. 

Pope Pius X died on Aug. 20, 1914, just as the First World War was breaking out across Europe. Born in a small Italian village in 1835, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto rose through the Church ranks and was elected pope in 1903. During his 11-year reign, he was conservative when it came to Church doctrine, but was also known for reforming Church hierarchy and for his devotion to the Eucharist. He was canonized in 1954. Upon his death, Register editor Fr. A. E. Burke (right) penned the obituary in the newspaper, then known as The Catholic Register and Canadian Extension. In an excerpt from that story appearing Aug. 27, 1914, Burke reported on the Pope’s final moments and recounts a meeting he once had with him:

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TORONTO - From coast-to-coast 100 plaques were unveiled as a sign that the internment of more than 8,500 Ukrainian “enemy aliens” during the First World War is not a forgotten piece of Canadian history. 

Jesuit novices in Guelph in 1918 expected to wake early to prayers and devotions, then Mass, then breakfast. They did not expect to be woken by military police.

In 1914 the Dominion of Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada, but as part of the British Empire it too was at war. On Monday evening, Aug. 4, St. John’s soaring Catholic cathedral, the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, will host an ecumenical service to remember the precise moment 100 years ago when Newfoundland Governor Walter Davidson received a telegram informing him that England was at war.

Some called it “The Great War.” Others called it “The War to End All Wars.” History proves it was neither.

BERLIN - As the world marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War, Germany's Catholic bishops urged efforts to overcome "destructive self- interest" and acknowledged the shared guilt of churches for the conflict, which left 16 million dead.

Half a world away from Europe, where the First World War erupted 100 years ago July 28, Washington National Cathedral will mark the occasion with a liturgy created especially for the anniversary.