As Christmas approaches and “Silent Night” begins to fill churches and homes across the world, it is worth remembering how unlikely its beginning truly was.

At the end of his one day off each week, Pope Leo XIV went to the local school in Castel Gandolfo and joined hundreds of excited parents in watching the children’s Christmas concert.

A recent Catholic Review poll, conducted in print and online, invited readers to share their favorite Christmas carols.  

Having first gained fame for his role on the landmark CBS-TV sitcom “All in the Family” (1971-79) in which he played Archie Bunker’s Polish American son-in-law, Mike Stivic — whom the cranky bigot dubbed “Meathead” — Rob Reiner helmed his first film in 1984. His work crossed various genres and included a number of features now regarded as classics.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christmas carols in every language and culture are expressions of how music can convey “feelings and emotions, even the deepest movements of the soul,” Pope Leo XIV said after listening, clapping and singing along at the Vatican Christmas concert with the poor. “As the melodies touched our hearts, we felt the inestimable value of music: not a luxury for the […]

One year after the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris, Marseille’s Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde is preparing to celebrate, on Dec. 7, the completion of restoration work on the iconic gilded copper statue of the Virgin Mary that crowns it.

Pope Leo XIV asked Canadian singer Michael Bublé and other artists to do their very best when performing a Christmas concert for the poor.

As the clang of passing light-rail trains filled the air, Erin Meye concentrated on touching up a large mural she had completed a few weeks earlier outside Options@328, a pro-life pregnancy resource center in Baltimore that shares a wall with Planned Parenthood. 

Whether on stage or screen, however — papal endorsement notwithstanding — this recounting of the early years of the Trapp Family singing group gives short shrift to their Catholic faith.

Celebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich knows what it’s like to be in a strange land, without a home. OSV News recently spoke with the Italian-American — who has become famous as a television host, author and restaurateur — about her own experiences as an Italian immigrant fleeing communism in the former Yugoslavia, and her current work as a board member for Jesuit Refugee Services/USA.