Movies

Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said Dec. 13 that the Liberals are contemplating pausing plans to broaden the eligibility of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to individuals solely with a mental illness beginning March 17. Cabinet will weigh the feedback offered by a joint parliamentary committee, medical professionals and other stakeholders.

The winter chill of December welcomed my first season of Advent in Toronto. My first Christmas away from home. Away from all those Christmas traditions I’d grown to love.

Following a series of attacks on Christians in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces Dec. 16, including the killing of a mother and daughter at a Catholic church, the Israeli Defense Forces said that it "takes claims regarding harm to sensitive sites with the utmost seriousness." However, the statement did not make any mention of the shooting deaths of the two women in the Holy Family Parish premises.

With the predictability of the liturgical year, the church hall of St. Willibrord Church in Verdun, Que., is for the first weeks of December a hive of excited preparation as volunteers fill boxes with food and toys for over 200 local families.

A Catholic priest can bless a gay or other unmarried couple as long as it is not a formal liturgical blessing and does not give the impression that the Catholic Church is blessing the union as if it were a marriage, the Vatican doctrinal office said.

Pope Francis condemned the Israeli military's killing of two Christian women sheltering at a Catholic parish in Gaza and an attack on a convent, noting that in the current fighting "unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire."

The Vatican City State criminal court sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five years and six months in prison on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud but found him not guilty of abuse of office or witness tampering.

Following the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem's denouncement of a series of attacks on Christians in Gaza by Israeli forces Dec. 16, including the killing of a mother and daughter at a Catholic parish, Pope Francis and numerous bishops across the globe also condemned the attack, calling for peace.

Adrian Horvath has been designing postage stamps for Canada Post for years, including work on the famed Star Trek series of stamps the post office issued in 2016 and 2017. 

A pilgrimage is a source of spiritual enrichment, and the dream of a lifetime for many Catholics. And Andreia Lopo, 47, takes “pure delight,” as she says, in helping to make that dream come true.