This column started about all the gun violence in Toronto this summer, but then it changed. For some reason, thoughts moved from hatred and death that guns bring to unconditional love and affection that family pets offer.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino said the nation's government must take the blame for at least 10 deaths related to a controversial election.

VATICAN CITY – Days before a referendum to elect a constituent assembly to rewrite Venezuela's constitution, leaders of the country's bishops' conference said the referendum is illegal and will only increase the suffering of the people.

WASHINGTON – In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court June 26 said a Lutheran preschool should not be excluded from a state grant program to refurbish its playground surface just because it is a religious entity.

CARACAS, Venezuela – The Venezuelan bishops' conference reiterated its rejection of a government proposal to draft a new constitution, after a rare meeting between the conference president and top government representatives.

It’s a question that elicits conflicting opinions from constitutional lawyers who oppose euthanasia and assisted-suicide. They are divided on whether passing Bill C-14 without further amendments is preferable to no bill at all. The Supreme Court has given the government until June 6 to pass a law.

A future historian (on the generous assumption that there are any) might plausibly contend that the first salvo of the “culture wars” was fired in January 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court released its Roe v. Wade abortion decision. He might also conclude that the same Court’s June 2015 decision declaring gay marriage to be a constitutionally protected right represented a final victory.

TORONTO - With 100,000 pink and blue flags littered across the front lawn of Queen’s Park representing Canada’s annual abortion toll, a blogger and a Protestant civil rights organization announced a constitutional challenge to Ontario freedom of information laws that keep all abortion statistics secret.

DUBLIN - The Irish government will not hold a national referendum to remove the offense of blasphemy from the country's constitution.