Pope urges war-torn world to walk through door of peace on Christmas December 25, 2024By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News As millions of pilgrims prepare to cross through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis called on individuals, nations and the global community to take a transformative step toward peace and reconciliation by walking through the “door of salvation” that is Jesus Christ.
Pope at Christmas: Jesus’ birth brings hope for world of justice, peace December 25, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News Celebrating Christmas Mass after opening the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis said the birth of Jesus fills Christians with hope and the courage to work for peace and justice.
Gloria in Excelsis Deo! What was the Star of Bethlehem? December 25, 2024By Peter D. Brown OSV News Filed Under: Arts & Culture, Christmas, Feature, News, World News Like much else the Bible recounts, the star of the Magi was a special intervention in the world by God, probably carried out with the intermediation of one of his angels. It was a Christmas miracle.
Pope opens Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, launching ‘Jubilee of Hope’ December 24, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News In the quiet of Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, launching what he called a “Jubilee of Hope.”
The story of the L.A. miracle that will make Pier Giorgio Frassati a saint December 24, 2024By Pablo Kay OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Saints, World News This odd combination of circumstances would eventually prove providential, confounding medical authorities, changing the life of this anonymous seminarian, and forever tying him to another young man who had been dead for almost 100 years: Pier Giorgio Frassati, who in August will be declared a saint of the Catholic Church on account of the miracle of Juan Gutierrez’s ankle.
Caritas, Jubilee USA present Holy Year debt-relief project December 23, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News A key part of a jubilee in the Bible was releasing prisoners, and Catholics today can join a global campaign to press for the release of thousands of people imprisoned in poverty because of their nations’ foreign debt, said an official of Caritas Internationalis.
Biden commutes most federal death-row sentences to life in prison December 23, 2024By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, World News Several days after speaking with Pope Francis, President Joe Biden announced Dec. 23 that he would commute most existing federal death sentences to life in prison.
Teamsters expand Amazon holiday strike to secure just wages December 23, 2024By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: News, Social Justice, World News After e-commerce giant Amazon ignored a deadline for a labor agreement set by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union, workers at seven U.S. Amazon facilities walked off the job Dec. 19, during the height of the online holiday shopping season.
Pope condemns ‘hypocrisy’ of exalting peace while waging war December 23, 2024By Justin McLellan OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News Pope Francis sharply criticized the global “hypocrisy” of nations advocating for peace while profiting from war, calling for renewed efforts toward dialogue and reconciliation.
Pope, suffering a cold, focuses on mothers and children before Christmas December 23, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer from inside the chapel of his residence because of a cold, Pope Francis nevertheless blessed the baby Jesus figurines children and adults will put in their Nativity scenes — and he brought one of his own as well.
Cardinal Pizzaballa tells Gaza Christians they are ‘the light’ of church December 23, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News “You have become the light of our Church in the entire world,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa told Gaza Christians Dec. 22 during a pre-Christmas visit aiming to bring the joy of the season to the suffering Christian community in the Gaza Strip.
Pope, bishops, hundreds of faithful pray for victims of shocking Christmas market attack December 23, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, News, World News Several hundred people gathered at Magdeburg Cathedral in the evening of Dec. 21 for an ecumenical prayer service to remember the victims of the Dec. 20 Christmas market attack in the central German city, which killed five, including a 9-year-old child, and injured over 40 people, leaving some in critical condition.
