To much of the world, Britain’s clumsy exit from the European Union, slated to begin March 29, is somewhat of a joke. But to the people of a divided Ireland, particularly Catholics and Protestants in the North, it’s a threat to peace.

Even before Pope Francis called on bishops from around the globe to meet for a Vatican sex abuse summit, a Toronto priest was travelling to parishes to talk about the origins of and solutions to clergy abuse of minors.

The repercussions from last month’s viral video of a confrontation between a group of Catholic high school students and a Native American man in Washington, D.C., feed into the schism of faith and politics in the U.S.

Shortly after U.S. president Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, the Washington Post’s two young reporters who played such a pivotal role in uncovering Watergate received a personal letter from their gutsy publisher Katharine Graham.

Over the Christmas season, one story after another that I read or watched seemed to indicate Christianity is under siege around the world.

It’s easy to look around and be pessimistic. Public and household debt levels are alarmingly high in Canada. The Church is roiling from one abuse scandal to another. So many parts of the world seem in chaos with rampant corruption, wars and terrorism.

The televised funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush at the Washington National Cathedral was a reminder of times when the office of the U.S. President worked for bipartisanship, decency and decorum.

The other day, I went to pay my respects to the widow and two children of a friend and neighbor whom I played pick-up hockey with for several years. He was only 55.

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.

Pope Francis had little or no choice but to accept the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop in Washington, D.C.