Today, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) published a statement following the report of a recent discovery of children’s graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation.

These days, what I hear most often within various circles is: “Will we ever get back to normal?” or: “I can’t wait for things to get back to normal,” or even worse: “I’ll pick up where I left off as soon as things get back to normal,” as if people have stopped needing God in the meantime. My response: “Was the situation so perfect before the pandemic that we absolutely want to return to it?”

On March 19, 2021, the fifth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation "Amoris laetitia," his discussion of the beauty and joy of love, Pope Francis inaugurated the Year of the Family, to be observed until June 26, 2022, at which time the 10th World Meeting of Families will be held in Rome. The Holy Father invites us to rediscover the educational value of the family unit.

In October, Pope Francis will initiate a three-year synodal journey consisting of three phases (diocesan, continental, universal) of consultations and discernment, culminating with the assembly in October 2023 in Rome.

At the beginning of May, the catechumens and adult initiates, together with Archbishop Christian Lépine, gathered for a meeting of a mystagogical nature, i.e. following the catechumenate (the time of "becoming Christian"). The purpose of this meeting, which was organized by the Office for Faith Education, was to support adults on their way to baptism or newly baptized adults in the early stages of their Christian life and to accompany them into the heart of the mysteries of the faith.

At the end of the Regina Caeli prayer, Pope Francis spoke of Laudato Si' Week, coordinated by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and encouraged everyone to "Hear the cry of the earth and the poor."

The annual Pentecost message addressed to Catholic movements and associations in Canada by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) Standing Committee for Relations with Movements and Associations is now available. This year, Pentecost takes place Sunday, May 23 2021.

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association has launched an emergency campaign encouraging Canadians to help the most vulnerable in India who are suffering from the alarming spread of COVID-19.

As part of its 2021-2022 Sharing Project, beginning next September, the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood in Canada (Mond'Ami) announces that it will support some 500 children and adolescents in the care of the St. Joseph's Charity Institute in India.

Forty years ago the shocking assassination attempt on the life of John Paul II took place in Saint Peter's Square. It’s a day that entered our collective memory when love and prayer defeated hatred.

With a new Apostolic Letter issued “motu proprio,” Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechist, intended to respond to an urgent need for the evangelization of the modern world, and undertaken in a “secular” manner, avoiding clericalization.

In a video message sent Saturday to participants in the VAX Live concert, Pope Francis stresses the need for deep healing, both from the effects of the Covid-19 virus and the virus of individualism and closed nationalism.