WASHINGTON - Catholic college presidents gathered in Washington earlier this month not only got ideas about ways to improve faculty development and fundraising efforts, they were also challenged to keep helping students embrace their faith or come to understand what it means.

LANGLEY, B.C. - The Catholic college affiliated with Trinity Western University has rebranded itself.

Redeemer Pacific College, which teaches TWU-accredited courses from a Catholic perspective, has changed its name to Catholic Pacific College.

VATICAN CITY - Saying he knows the history of the subjugation of women continues to have a negative impact on how women are treated, Pope Francis called for greater roles for women in the Church and for greater assistance and workplace flexibility to ensure they can make the best choices for themselves and their families.

BEIRUT - Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East lamented the suffering of their people in violence-wracked areas and offered words of hope while calling for prayers for their safety.

Before I became convinced that William Shakespeare was a Roman Catholic, I was one of those conspiratorially minded chaps who believed Shakespeare was not the person who wrote the greatest single cache of plays in the English language. 

VATICAN CITY - Migrants are among the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world, and a church committed to defending strong families must be particularly engaged in assisting migrant couples and their children, a U.S. bishop told a Vatican conference.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has lifted its ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in Eastern Catholic churches outside their traditional territories, including in the United States, Canada and Australia.

VATICAN CITY - Gathering at "a time of severe tension and conflict," particularly in the Middle East, 24 Catholic and Muslim leaders and scholars urged dialogue to promote greater respect and understanding and condemned all acts of violence committed in the name of religion.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with some parents who were looking at enrolling their children in a Catholic school. They made that decision because of their own experiences of Catholic education, but also because of their participation in a program run by a number of our school boards called “We’ve Been Waiting For You.” 

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England - Inside this town's recently refurbished Royal Shakespeare Theater, a massed audience, banked on three floors, gazes attentively out over a wide, brightly lit stage.

There is a perception, which has widened in the last 40 years, that Catholic higher education is no longer compatible with the modern university. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education charged denominational colleges and universities should be refused accreditation for “systematically undermining… skeptical and unfettered inquiry” and “the primacy of reason.” 

Part of the mandate of Catholic schools is to ensure that students develop an appreciation and understanding of the role of prayer. 

NEW YORK - Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, a leading culture warrior in the U.S. hierarchy, says he was “very disturbed” by the debate over church teachings on gays and remarried Catholics at this month’s Vatican summit, saying it sent a confusing message and “confusion is of the devil.”

AL-UM-KUNDUN, JORDAN - Iraqi refugees who fled Islamic State violence and theft of their property in Mosul said it will be difficult to ever return home, despite concerns by the Church that more Christians are fleeing their ancient homeland in the Middle East. 

Conchita D’Souza, a second-year Christianity and Culture student at the University of Toronto, equates voting with flipping a stone into a pond. Each vote can create “ripples that will go towards influencing society,” she said.