Pope celebrates 87th birthday with children of families in need December 18, 2023By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News With song, cake and circus performers, Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday in festive style at the Vatican.
Gay couples can be blessed by priest if it isn’t a formal liturgical blessing December 18, 2023By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News A Catholic priest can bless a gay or other unmarried couple as long as it is not a formal liturgical blessing and does not give the impression that the Catholic Church is blessing the union as if it were a marriage, the Vatican doctrinal office said.
Radio Interview: Heroic Story of Ulma Family December 18, 2023By Catholic Review Staff Catholic Review Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Radio Interview, Saints Catholic Review Radio host Father Brian Nolan, pastor of St. Ignatius in Ijamsville, Md., talks with Sofia Maurette, the director of Intercultural Ministry for the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, who worked intimately with the creation of the exhibit of the newly beatified Ulma family soon to be on display at this shrine.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon December 18, 2023By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Cardinal Becciu, five others sentenced to prison at Vatican trial December 18, 2023By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News The Vatican City State criminal court sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five years and six months in prison on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud but found him not guilty of abuse of office or witness tampering.
Celebrating the Incarnation, remember Bethlehem, too, pope says December 18, 2023By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News When St. Francis of Assisi staged the first Nativity scene 800 years ago, he did so to remind people of the powerful, awe-inspiring truth that God became human in Jesus, Pope Francis said.
Pope condemns targeting of unarmed civilians in Gaza December 18, 2023By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Francis condemned the Israeli military’s killing of two Christian women sheltering at a Catholic parish in Gaza and an attack on a convent, noting that in the current fighting “unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire.”
Christmas still calls December 18, 2023By Carole Norris Greene Special to the Catholic Review Filed Under: Amen, Christmas, Commentary God will never dishonor himself by going back on this tremendous gift of free will. And when our choices cause us pain, God never stops encouraging us to “confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help” (Heb 4:16).
‘Come, Holy Spirit’ — A simple prayer that never fails December 18, 2023By Effie Caldarola OSV News Filed Under: Commentary The examen is not a call to review your sinfulness, like an examination of conscience, although you may find things in your day for which you are sorry. It’s often called an examination of “consciousness” because it reviews your life as you’ve lived it in the past 24 hours.
Analysis: U.S. Catholics’ priest shortage faces new ‘serious crisis’ due to immigration law December 18, 2023By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, Vocations, World News In a particularly unwelcome revelation for American Catholics, the federal government announced that same month in a Federal Register notice a procedural change in how it processes green cards for foreign-born religious workers.
Ukraine’s war-torn Christians look ahead to first Christmas shared with West December 17, 2023By Jonathan Luxmoore OSV News Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, War in Ukraine, World News When Ukraine’s embattled citizens gather this Christmas, their rich festivities will feel symbolically different — as the festival is celebrated for the first time on Dec. 25, in line with the Western calendar.
Holy Spirit ‘propels us’ out of comfort zone, says synod’s spiritual adviser December 17, 2023By Sean Gallagher OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Synodality, World News Some people came to the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican in October “with the hope that it would bring dramatic change to the life of the church,” Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe said in a talk in Indianapolis Dec. 6. “Other people hoped it would exactly change nothing.”
