The busiest and most stressful time of year for me is the first couple of days of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (CCCB) annual plenary.

Usually on Mondays and Tuesday mornings, I write and file three or more stories from my basement office, using material I have gathered over the previous several days, augmented by a telephone interview or two. That’s pretty intense, as writing is difficult, even under quiet conditions at home.

Well, at the CCCB plenary, I have to write those three or more stories while paying attention to the proceedings in case I miss anything; often taking notes for a story while listening to English translation via headsets of a presentation in French; and ensuring I don’t forget to take photographs.

But it’s also a great time because, in between the gathering and the writing, I get to spend time with some bishops and this year, Bishop Steven Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was there and we had several opportunities to talk, and were able to sit together at the formal dinner on Monday night in honor of the Papal Nuncio.

I was able to bring him up to date on the Anglicanorum coetibus Society’s recent Annual General Meeting. It’s great that he supports our lay-run efforts to promote Anglican patrimony and Catholic faith for purposes of evangelization and deeper conversion.