OTTAWA - They have written electoral guides, identified national issues, and invited Canadians to vote in the Oct. 19 federal election, but one day after voters swept Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party to a majority government, most Canadian churches had no official reaction.

OTTAWA - As Canadians signalled they were ready for change in Ottawa, giving Justin Trudeau and the Liberals a majority mandate to rule the land, pro-lifers raised concerns about what exactly is in store for Canada.

OTTAWA - In the final days of the federal election campaign, an array of anti-euthanasia groups nationwide has accused the political parties of “fleeing their responsibilities” on an issue too important to be swept under the carpet.

GUATEMALA CITY - Mass at the Divine Providence Parish, celebrated shortly after polls closed in this country's recent elections, included intentions. The parishioners prayed for the "people and pastors" of Guatemala, along with the country itself -- where citizens, protesting peacefully for months, forced a president accused of corruption to resign in the days prior to the Sept. 6 vote.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May made the perceptive point recently that democracy is too important to be left only to politicians. A nuance that might be added is that as a keystone of democracy, free, fair and above all vigorous elections should never become the exclusive preserve of the political actors seeking to benefit from them.

MANILA, Philippines - The head of the Philippine bishops' conference said helping the poor and getting rid of political dynasties should be front and centre in the months leading up to the country's May elections.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has welcomed the election of a new patriarch for the Armenian Catholic Church, extending what is known as "ecclesial communion" to Patriarch Gregoire Pierre XX Ghabroyan of Cilicia, who was elected by his fellow Armenian bishops July 24.

MANILA, Philippines - The country's Catholic bishops urged voters to reject "notoriously corrupt" politicians running in next year's national elections in a pastoral letter sent to parishes.

Pundits and politicians agree: Ontario’s newly minted Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown is in a quagmire.

His problem goes something like this: social conservatives got him elected as leader but pro-life, anti-sex-ed voters aren’t nearly enough to bring the new guy victory in a general election. Sooner or later, they say, Brown must abandon his base.

OTTAWA - The federal 2015 budget is an election document that sets out its vision for the middle class.

OTTAWA - With legalized euthanasia looming large over the House of Commons, a Tory backbencher has tabled a motion to affirm the right of free votes on matters of conscience.

VATICAN CITY - As the people of Nigeria prepared for general elections, Pope Francis wrote to the nations' bishops urging efforts to build up a "culture of encounter" that would create a united front against Boko Haram terrorists and ethnic tensions.

VATICAN CITY - When Pope Francis went out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica for the first time, he said he did not prepare what he was going to say, but "I felt deeply that a minister needs the blessing of God, but also of his people."

ABUJA, Nigeria - Politicians should desist from hate speech and inciting Nigerians against each other during the campaign for general elections, said a Nigerian cardinal.

OTTAWA - A drop in oil prices has played havoc with federal government financial projections and raised doubts whether the federal government can balance the budget, but observers say election promises that would benefit families are unlikely to be affected.