This weeks English-language release of Pope Benedict XVIs new book, Jesus of Nazareth, was a historically unprecedented act which, given the long history of papal precedents, in saying something.

There were threads of uplift to the shock and tragedy of the Virginia Tech shootings. Even the most extravagant horrors, we should be thankful, present instances of human generosity, courage and goodness.

In Pavia, one great theologian-bishop is visiting another.

We buried little Finn on Saturday. Hes near Harpers Ferry on a hill overlooking the Shenandoah River.

My wife and I have a friend, a lady and lady is the right word here who is what earlier centuries, especially in England, would have called high-born.

Here is the testimony of Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a 46-year-old religious of the Little Sisters of Catholic Motherhood, who attributes her healing from Parkinson's disease to the intercession of Pope John Paul II.

While his resume includes nearly four and a half years at the White House as head of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Jim Towey points to his work and friendship with a tiny nun from Calcutta as the most significant period of his life.

Volker Schlondorff was so intrigued by the real-life story of a Catholic priest forced by his Nazi captors to make a life and death choice, he had to film it. I have a hard time, says the Jesuit-educated filmmaker, making any decision whatsoever.

Years ago, when I was young and impressionable, I visited a bookstore in Toronto.

Forty years ago today governor-general Georges Vanier died peacefully at Rideau Hall.