Our small English-language parish in a borough of Montreal is hardly a hot bed of serious surprises. Recently, though, we received some rather hard news.

Many of us have visions of retiring to a warm spot and taking it easy, but not Sr. Fay Trombley. The 77-year-old former professor at Newman Theological College in Edmonton is spending her “retirement” in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., tirelessly working to ease the hunger, unemployment and spiritual needs of people in the Arctic. 

VANCOUVER – Living and working with a tight-knit family on a remote B.C. ranch was a recipe for vocation for Ken Anderson who will be ordained a priest this year.

Mission work is not just about humanitarian aid in developing countries. There are missions that exist in our own backyard. 

Erik Sorensen got his first job at 12, shovelling snow for an apartment building in his hometown of Red Deer, Alta. In high school he worked in a grocery store stacking cans and filling up the bins of potatoes.

Of course Mario Biscardi was given prior notice that he was to receive the highest honour the Vatican bestows on any layperson. 

ROME – Today's women religious belong to "a long line of courageous women" whose faith in God and love for humanity led them to put their lives at risk, said Sister Patricia Murray, an Irish member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There was a sea of youth in a Brampton, Ont., convention centre on March 7 to meet four men about to be ordained priests, plus an array of habited sisters there to explain their lives under vows.

Stacey Leitmann was preparing herself for a tough day.

As a child, I wanted to be famous. It wasn’t so much that I wanted to be well known or revered. Rather, I wanted my life to matter. In my limited childhood understanding, fame was the reward for a life that mattered.

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When residents first enter the Southdown Institute in the small township of East Gwillimbury, Ont., north of Toronto, they are usually lethargic and depressed. They are religious or clergy who have been sent there by the leaders of their diocese or their community, to be treated for addictions and mental health issues.

TORONTO - Giving up the luxuries of North America last year to do mission work in Guyana proved to be a life-giving experience for Ashley Aperocho.

Eagle River, Alaska, is a wilderness paradise with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains and clear rivers. In the 1970s it was a remote town where the closest grocery store was an hour’s drive on a partially paved road. It was the ideal location to inspire a young woman to pursue a career in wildlife biology.

EDMONTON - When Mary Truong first met the Sisters of Providence, her heart leapt.