Pope Francis will lead a consistory to install new cardinals on Aug. 27. The 16 new cardinal electors, eligible to vote in the next election of a pope, come from surprising places, and many are involved with people on society’s margins. As observers note, the men this Pope has named princes of the Church often have no pretensions to royalty. They are God’s servants in the vineyard of life.

EDMONTON – A much smaller group of pilgrims than usual is heading off to World Youth Day from Edmonton this week. But the anticipation is huge.

VANCOUVER – He lost almost everything on his first day in Canada.

EDMONTON – Touring the magnificent St. Joseph’s Oratory during a class trip to Montreal, student Noah Ethier was surprised to learn about his family connection to St. André Bessette, who helped build it. 

I love my Church, but I admit I have at times found it difficult dealing with its sins against the Indigenous community.

VANCOUVER – The rate of medically-assisted deaths on Vancouver Island is about five times higher than in the rest of the country.

EDMONTON – Frank “Bushy” Stegemeier is struggling.

REGINA – Herb Muma is a man with a mission.

Growing up in rural Saskatchewan planted a special place in my heart for the wildflowers that grow in the ditches. Blue alfalfa, purple thistles, bright yellow brown-eyed susans. When I moved to the city to study, I saw them less frequently, and I did not realize how much I missed the wildflowers until I spent several weeks at a youth camp this summer, thanks to my husband’s working there and my maternity leave.

Just three months after launching a video appeal to victims of clergy abuse, Regina Archbishop Don Bolen is again appealing to victims to come forward.

Thanks to the excellent coverage by Salt + Light Television, I was able to follow the “Catholica 200” celebrations in St. Boniface, Man., marking the bicentennial of the arrival of the first French missionaries in the Canadian West. 

Two hundred years ago, a trio of missionaries were sent westward to bring peace and stability to an untamed colony.

EDMONTON – Fr. Victor Botari was ordained to the priesthood late in life, but he brought a passion for social justice to all the Alberta parishes he served.

Catholics on the Canadian Prairies have just lost an important voice. 

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.