NEWS

Pope Benedict XVI's "Shepherd One," an AlItalia flight from Rome, arrived just the way the cameras love. It was a bright, sunny, cloudless and slightly breezy day as the papal jet touched down on the runway at Andrew Airforce Base outside of Washington. And the crowd of 1,200 government officials, American Catholic prelates and assorted invited guests cheered.

You know you're in Washington when you walk into a hotel and everyone around you works for the media. And they're here — in spades. Some 5,000 journalists have signed up to cover the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States and, having nothing else to do but sit and wait for his arrival at Andrews Air Force base here in Washington at 4 p.m., we're keeping busy keeping the U.S. Secret Service busy.

You know you're in Washington when you walk into a hotel and everyone around you works for the media. And they're here — in spades. Some 5,000 journalists have signed up to cover the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States and, having nothing else to do but sit and wait for his arrival at Andrews Air Force base here in Washington at 4 p.m., we're keeping busy keeping the U.S. Secret Service busy.

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Liberal MP Denis Corderre says the next election will be fought over censorship.

But the newly minted Heritage Critic was not speaking about press freedom in light of hate speech complaints levied against Catholic Insight, Maclean’s and Ezra Levant, the former publisher of the Western Standard.

That hoary old folk hymn said "they'll know we are Christians by our love." But how will they know we are Catholics? In modern secular society, Catholics fit right in. There are few visible signs they wear. Crucifixes are just as likely to be a fashion accessory as a statement of faith. But scratch a Catholic and you'll find a surprising amount of religious tradition.

That hoary old folk hymn said "they'll know we are Christians by our love." But how will they know we are Catholics? In modern secular society, Catholics fit right in. There are few visible signs they wear. Crucifixes are just as likely to be a fashion accessory as a statement of faith. But scratch a Catholic and you'll find a surprising amount of religious tradition.

James Joyce once described the Roman Catholic Church as "Here comes everybody!" In the United States, his description rings true. American Catholics are a diverse and somewhat unruly bunch and attempts to paint them into categorical corners usually founder on the facts. Pope Benedict XVI will no doubt find this out for himself during his visit April 15-20.

James Joyce once described the Roman Catholic Church as "Here comes everybody!" In the United States, his description rings true. American Catholics are a diverse and somewhat unruly bunch and attempts to paint them into categorical corners usually founder on the facts. Pope Benedict XVI will no doubt find this out for himself during his visit April 15-20.

{mosimage}TORONTO - A Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC) investigation says that a company that makes socks for the largest school uniform supplier in Ontario is in violation of its anti-sweatshop policies.

Workers at the Lianglong Socks Ltd. factory in Zhuji City, China, are sleeping in unheated dormitories and working unpaid overtime in a factory deemed dirty, unhealthy and unsafe, according to the WRC. For a lot of Catholic school students across Ontario, that’s an issue.

{mosimage}PALO RALO, Honduras - Nine years ago, Rodolfo Arteaga was sitting on a gold mine — literally. In fact, so was his village of Palo Ralo, in the central Siria Valley of Honduras.

But Arteaga said his and his family’s lives have not improved and he wishes he could turn back the clock.