“Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR), which this year is commemorated on 24 September 2023. In his message, Pope Francis proposes a renewed reflection on a right that has not yet been codified at the international level: the right not to have to migrate or, in other words, the right to be able to remain in one’s own land.
Season of Creation is a time of grace that the Church, in ecumenical dialogue, offers to humanity to renew its relationship with the Creator and with creation, through celebration, conversion and commitment together.
In other words, the Season of Creation is the annual ecumenical celebration of prayer and action for our common home.
More than 5,000 Canadian Youth are making their way to Lisbon, Portugal to be with Pope Francis, from 2 to 6 August 2023. The Holy Father will join more than one million young people for World Youth Day (WYD), an international gathering of youth, organized by the Catholic Church. The first international World Youth Day was held in 1986, and the event was hosted by Canada in 2002, with Pope Saint John Paul II making the pilgrimage to Toronto.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomed the news from the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod of the delegates appointed for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held this October. The two episcopal conferences serve as the coordinating entities for the North American region for the Synod, which is themed, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. The first session of the Synod will be held at the Vatican on 4-29 October 2023, and the second session is scheduled to be held in October 2024.
The CCCB Standing Committee for Family and Life, with its corresponding Office, released a 30-second promotional video supporting the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly to take place on Sunday, 23 July 2023...
The General Secretariat of the Synod publishes the “Instrumentum laboris”, the document that will guide the work of the two-part General Assembly that will meet in Rome in October 2023 and October 2024...
This work of art invites you to a Eucharistic celebration with reflections of Outaouais culture. And, inviting refrains throughout the Mass to encourage congregational participation. In addition to local francophone folk traditions, she draws on Algonquin, Irish, contemporary, popular and classical musical traditions. She also gives a nod to the Mediterranean cultures that are increasingly present in our midst.
National Indigenous Peoples Day takes place on the summer solstice, June 21. It’s a special occasion to learn more about the rich and diverse cultures, voices, experiences and histories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
Learning about Indigenous Peoples, places and experiences is a step forward each Canadian can take on the path to reconciliation.
Social media is a way for the Church to be among the people, and work toward the common good, not about compromising the truth to gain followers or 'likes,' says Dr Paolo Ruffini. The Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication was speaking with Vatican News after presenting the Dicastery’s new theological and pastoral document reflection on social media, titled “Towards Full Presence. A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media."
In January 2023, Pope Francis published his latest annual message for the 57th World Day of Social Communications, which will take place on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The theme of this year’s edition is Speaking from the heart. “Speaking the truth in love.” Quoting Saint Paul the Apostle’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Holy Father mentions that “We should not be afraid of proclaiming the truth, even if it is at times uncomfortable, but of doing so without charity, without heart.”
In the context of the National Week for Family and Life, the Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued both an Open Letter to the Government of Canada and a Message to the Catholic Faithful on federal legislation which, by 17 March 2024, will permit persons living with mental illness to access euthanasia.
Rising prices are hitting hard at families and individuals who are already in difficult socio-economic situations. In its annual message for May 1st, the Church and Society Council of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops invites solidarity in the face of this phenomenon...
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) have issued the North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.
Begun in late 2022, the Continental Stage of the Synod was the second stage of the three-year process initiated by Pope Francis in October 2021. For the North American Continental Stage, the United States and Canada held twelve virtual assemblies: seven in English, three in Spanish, and two in French between December 2022 and January 2023. In total, 931 delegates and 146 bishops from Canada and the United States were appointed to participate in one of these twelve assemblies to share their reflections and responses to the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod in October 2022. Those reflections were brought together by the North American Writing Team to create the Final Document.
Father Normand Carpentier passed on March 26, 2023 in Gatineau. Born in Buckingham on December 6, 1940, he was the son of the late René Carpentier and the late Alice Mallette and brother of Paul, Louis, Pierre, Richard, Luc, Yolaine, Jean d'Arc, Madeleine, Louise and the late Claudette.
Bill 11, the Act modifying the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care, along with other legislative provisions presented February 16, 2023, by Quebec Health and Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger, obliges us as Quebec citizens and Catholic bishops practising our ministries throughout this province to speak out today on this question which is of the utmost importance.
Trois-Rivières – March 10, 2023 | The Bishops of Quebec concluded their Plenary Assembly today, which had begun on March 6. The meeting was greatly inspired by the synodal process and provided an opportunity for many fruitful and stimulating exchanges...
Trois-Rivières, March 8, 2023 – On this, the second day of their two-day gathering to collect and assimilate the diocesan synodal syntheses from across the province, along with the Provincial Synthesis - Quebec and the document taking shape in the continental stage of consultations held during the Synod on Synodality launched in October 2021, a group of almost 150 people from all dioceses of Quebec are marking International Women's Day...
Share Lent is an annual highlight for Development and Peace.
It is when the bishops of Canada encourage the faithful to give to Development and Peace, especially through the collection on Solidarity Sunday, the fifth Sunday of Lent.
This Lent, let us walk in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Global South who put people and planet first.
Join us and bring Share Lent to life in your community!
A series of CCCB videos entitled Journeying through Lent will once again be available on the CCCB website. This year's Lenten meditations are given by His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, and by Most Rev. Brian Joseph Dunn, Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth...