VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis said the worst thing about growing old is not becoming weaker or infirm, but the "abandonment, the exclusion, the deprivation of love" in today's "throwaway culture." The pope's remarks came in a written message sent to bioethicists, scientists, health care professionals, religious, theologians and other experts attending the Pontifical Academy for Life's Feb. 20-21 workshop on Aging and Disability.

Smiles all around and the couple's life is full of plans, love and dreams coming true. They are getting married. As Catholics being married in a Catholic church, they know they have to go through the marriage preparation course. Trouble is the groom is working at a high-paying job in Fort McMurray and the bride to be is an elementary school teacher in Edmonton.

The just-released film Son of God promises to tell the story of Jesus from the moment of his birth, describe his teachings and miracles, and follow through to his crucifixion and resurrection. "It's a huge epic sweeping movie that will touch people's hearts and inspire them and strengthen them," says producer Roma Downey.

Backslapping and hearty laughter ensued as scores of Knights of Columbus, their families and 70 priests gathered at the Chateau Louis Conference Centre for Padre Night. "Now we are all masters of our own fate but we support our bishops, priests, deacons and other religious," said Bill Smith, state deputy of the Alberta/Northwest Territories.

Residential school survivors and the Oblate priests and brothers who ran those schools "tend to express radically different views of the place of Indian residential schools in Canadian history," says the author of a recent book on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). "The distance between these interpretations of history could not be greater," writes Ronald Niezen in his book, Truth and Indignation, published in October 2013.

Catholic residential schools in northern Canada strove to preserve the traditional wilderness way of life, a leading Catholic educator wrote in a 1992 paper. "The schooling provided in the North was based on the assumption that most Métis and Indian children would take up a life of hunting, trapping and fishing, and that the three Rs, while not essential to such a mode of living, would nonetheless give them certain advantages," wrote Dr. Robert Carney, an education professor at the University of Alberta.

If a recovering alcoholic says he's five years sober from alcohol, people applaud his accomplishment. If a man says he's five years sober from cheating on his wife, viewing Internet pornography and compulsively masturbating, people are repulsed. Few people want to hear about sex addiction – it's a taboo subject. However, a Christian sexual addiction recovery group has men talking openly about such problems.

Throughout this archdiocese, we have incredible people in pastoral care ministry who have a compassionate heart," said Teresa Kellendonk, associate director of pastoral care for the Edmonton Archdiocese. "What makes it strong and beautiful is that people are so committed. When you have someone in this ministry for 30 years, it's because they care about their fellow parishioner, their fellow human being."

Three months of protests in Ukraine that ended with government snipers killing dozens of people strengthened the commitment to democracy of many Ukrainians, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The country, however, remains vulnerable to further violence and division, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych told reporters in Rome Feb. 25.

Greeting thousands of engaged couples on the feast of St. Valentine, Pope Francis told them not to be afraid of building a permanent and loving relationship in a culture where everything is disposable and fleeting. The secrets to a loving and lasting union, he said, include treating each other with respect, kindness and gratitude, and never letting daily struggles and squabbles sabotage making peace and saying, "I'm sorry."