A friend in Montreal — I’ll call her Sassy Knoll for her love of conspiracy theories — thinks Pierre-Karl Peladeau and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are in league to torpedo the Parti Quebecois’ chances in the crucial April 7 Quebec election.

The ordination of a bishop is always a joyous event, but the anointing of Bishop Christian Riesbeck is more than a celebration of his personal episcopal calling. It is recognition of the important contribution that his fledgling order, the Companions of the Cross, has made to the life of the Church in barely one generation.

So many questions, so few answers. That’s often where we find ourselves as Catholics and as people.

Have you ever noticed that the lineup for Apple products always seems to be the longest in the mall? Certain products have a strong brand loyalty. It is similar with Catholic education.

Crowds at Parti Quebecois whistle stops during the provincial election have been chanting: “We want a country!” They’re perfectly entitled to both the desire and its democratic expression, of course, even as Quebec Liberal leader Philippe Couillard is equally justified in asking rhetorically: “Don’t we already have one?”

I was a little nervous about Pope Francis’ meeting with the clergy of Rome last week. As a seminarian and a new priest, I always looked forward to Blessed John Paul’s annual Holy Thursday letter to priests. To my disappointment, Pope Benedict XVI did not continue that tradition, but replaced it with an annual encounter with the clergy of Rome in the first days of Lent. Pope Francis opted this year to continue Benedict’s practice, and so met with the parish priests of Rome last week.

Can a pope be too popular? The question may seem odd but it is worth asking as the papacy of Pope Francis turns one year old.

As we approach the first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, it is not difficult to find him top of mind.

Last week we had the honour of hosting Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, in Kingston at the annual St. John Fisher Dinner. The Fisher Dinner, named in honour of a great man of letters before his courageous defence of marriage and martyrdom under Henry VIII, supports the work of our Newman House Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen’s University and the missionaries of Catholic Christian Outreach who are an essential part of our mission.

Among the thornier challenges Pope Francis has presented to Church hierarchy is to see if a path exists to bring divorced and remarried Catholics back into a full life of faith.