I write just as Pope Francis has arrived in Rio, before any of the major events have taken place. Yet on his travelling day alone, one already sees the hallmarks of reporting on this pontificate — a focus on style over substance.

The two things the world learned about the Holy Father’s departure and arrival was that he carried his own hand luggage on to the plane, and that his more informal motorcade in Rio got lost amid the joyous throngs. Interesting, but irrelevant to what Francis wants the world to hear about Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis is a genuinely humble man of simple tastes, who desires that nothing get in the way of the proclamation of the Gospel. So it must bother him when his comportment draws even more attention to himself, especially when it involves implicit invidious comparisons to his predecessors...

It never fails to amaze me how much the secular media loves to take shots at the Church. Pope Francis offering indulgences — or opportunity for forgiveness of sins — to those following him on Twitter during World Youth Day festivities in Rio de Janeiro is the latest hit and gigglefest for the media.

Pope Francis is the first pope from Latin America and he ensured South America was the destination for his first foreign trip. So it was no surprise that the Argentine Pope was welcomed to World Youth Day in Brazil by huge, adoring crowds who brought his motorcade to a standstill.

In research described as “sure to inflame the gender wars,” a study funded by the U.K. government suggests women around the world, and especially in Canada, are significantly more ignorant of current affairs and politics than men.

KRAKOW, POLAND - The approval by Pope Francis of a miracle worked through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II was met with great joy in the Polish pope’s hometown, where nary a church can be found without an image of the blessed. Indeed, just last month the John Paul II Be Not Afraid Centre — a religious, educational and cultural complex on the grounds of the Divine Mercy shrine — was dedicated, the crypt chapel of which already contains the relics of John Paul II. So there was joy at the announcement, but not much surprise, even though at less than nine years after his death John Paul’s canonization will set a modern record.

To read the coverage and study the ghastly pictures from the Quebec village of Lac Mégantic is to know that hearts must be asking where was God during this tragedy.

On June 12, in another of the seemingly inexorable movements in the developed world to normalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, Quebec tabled Bill 52, “An act respecting end-of-life care.” Given that only 16-30 per cent of Canadians have access to comprehensive, quality end-of-life care, according to the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, we ought to receive news of efforts to improve care at this crucially important and vulnerable time for dying persons and their loved ones with universal enthusiasm. But what vision of “end-of-life care” is presented here?

On July 5 Pope Francis released his first encyclical, a newsworthy event in itself, but then he knocked himself from the headlines by approving the sainthood causes of two of his renowned predecessors. If the rapid-fire announcements seemed unusual, well, that should come as no surprise from a Pope who keeps doing things his way.

As we celebrate Canada Day, it’s not too difficult to get down on our country right now.

GARDEN GROVE, CALIF. - On the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the parish of St. Callistus will have a procession, but not any ordinary procession. This being California, it will be a motorcade. And the congregation won’t be coming back.