Stupidity isn’t about intelligence, Bonhoeffer said. It’s social, not solitary. It thrives in groups, in crowds, especially under power. The more people conform to ideologies or parties, the more they risk losing independent thought.

Religious decline in secular democracies was predicted over a decade ago. Dr Richard Weiner noted that survival depends on “status or utility”—a cultural relevance that many faiths are losing. Without it, belief systems struggle to persist in the public sphere.

Whether built of wood or woven from thought, sanctuaries shelter our better selves. They offer silence without loneliness, solitude without isolation. They become sacred by being separate—reminding us that peace is not found in noise, but in the deliberate, generous hush of being still.

Shackled by regret or sedated by nostalgia, people often let the past govern their future. But Ezekiel declares that change is always possible. Redemption is not about your track record—it’s about the path you choose today.

Safeguards promised in Canada’s assisted dying law are eroding. Vulnerable people request assisted death and are often driven by loneliness, guilt, and loss of meaning—compromising true freedom of choice. The inclusion of psychiatric illness by 2027 intensifies concern.

A 1939 meeting between Hitler’s envoy and Pope Pius XII revealed troubling Vatican awareness of clergy abuse. The envoy hinted abuse trials could stop if cooperation followed. Pius XII acknowledged the problem but later ordered abuse-related archives in Vienna destroyed.

Diversity isn’t an obstacle—it’s a calling. Whether it’s gender, culture, language, or race, our differences enrich the Church. This is where synodality matters most: it provides the tools to walk together without erasing our uniqueness. It’s how catholicity becomes reality.

Modern seminarians are often described as “submarines,” concealing their views until after ordination. Once ordained, they’re harder to reassign or challenge, creating parish placement dilemmas that significantly affects pastoral life.

In a culture of division, the Church’s liturgy is countercultural. It proclaims joy, unity and sacred purpose through communal acts of worship that defy isolation and remind us we belong to something—and Someone—greater.