By Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton General Secretary, The Canadian Council of Churches   Our final day of journeying together as The Path of Abraham 2014 began with a presentation by Rabbis for Human Rights. The Rabbi who spoke to us was passionate about and committed to peace and human rights for all people ...read more

I’ve often puzzled over what Jesus meant when he said “Blessed are they who mourn”. Thankfully, in Episode 2 of Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism series we’re introduced to the teachings of Jesus and Fr. Barron explains that the beatitudes are a formula for practicing ‘detachment’. Now, most moderns conceive of happiness as freedom to do whatever they ...read more

Your Holiness, One year ago today, the Bishops of Canada along with all the faithful of our great land saw you appear for the first time on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The simplicity of your manner and your words, the humility with which you invited us to pray for you, and ...read more

  By Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton General Secretary, The Canadian Council of Churches   Jews, Christians and Muslims together for the Arabic/English worship service at St. George’s Anglican Church in Jerusalem. As word and music filled space and hearts we were made to feel so welcome. What an interesting experience for all but in a ...read more

  By Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton General Secretary, The Canadian Council of Churches   Shabbat Shalom! This morning offered a variety of ways of engaging in faith and land. Some of us went to the Sabbath services of the only English-speaking Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem. A remarkable service, made more remarkable by the fact that ...read more

by  Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton General Secretary, The Canadian Council of Churches   After what seemed like luxurious sleeping-in compared with our early start of yesterday, we began Day 3 of our Path of Abraham study tour by hearing the challenging, heart-wrenching, soul-wrenching story of a Holocaust survivor, Hannah Pick. She knew Anne Frank when ...read more

This coming Friday, March 14th, as we mark Chiara Lubich’s entry into heaven we invite you to learn more about one of the Church’s great lay movements: Focolare. Founded by a young lay woman during wartime Italy the story of Chiara Lubich is truly extraordinary. It can be difficult to describe how the Holy Spirit is present in ...read more

Welcome to the newest feature on the Salt + Light blog: our Week in Review featuring a rundown of Canadian stories about and from the church…with the occasional international story for good measure. In Regina, Archbishop Daniel Bohan is in talks with church officials in Vietnam about how the archdiocese can help Vietnamese seminarians become ...read more

“Whoever is not with me is against me” Matt 12:30 Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! Those unfamiliar with this passage from the Gospel of Matthew might be surprised to hear it was Jesus of Nazareth who first uttered these words. Words which are a stark contrast to the image of Jesus as gentle and peaceful. ...read more

This week was big in many ways: Pope Francis made some significant appointments, including naming his personal secretary to the number two position at the newly created Secretariat for the Economy. Wednesday was the beginning of Lent and Pope Francis’ first Ash Wednesday liturgy as pontiff. It was also the day one the Italian newspaper ...read more