Robert Assaly was a confused but avowed atheist at 24-years-old when, in the midst of a personal crisis, he encountered the Living God. That was 1984, and since then, everything changed for Robert, including transitioning from an Anglican Ottawa-area pastor to a married Roman Catholic priest for Montreal. Robert received a dispensation from clerical celibacy from Pope Francis, under a provision that was instituted by St. John Paul II in 1980 (see article that follows). He will be ordained Sept. 20 at St. Thomas à Becket at 7:30 p.m.

Through Marie-Reine-des-Coeurs Sanctuary was not decked out with orange traffic cones this year, it was evident the ''Worksite'' launched by the Diocese of Montreal was well under way. Deeper LISTENING was the focus of the evening, to better recognize the needs of the Church and the world, while we continue our work toward making a ''missionary shift''.

This priest of the Emmanuel Community values sharing, welcoming and no-charging, over efficiency. Building a community instead, is what matters, in order for parishioners to become a family.

Marie-Claude Lalonde, the national director of Aid to the Church in Need Canada (ACN), attended Pope Francis' blessing of an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Sorrows and Consoler of the Syrian People, this past Sunday, September 15. The ceremony took place at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. The icon will be carried through 34 dioceses in Syria—as a sort of pilgrimage—offered for the veneration of the faithful along it’s path intended to finish in Damascus, in May 2020.