The pope’s message encouraging prayers “for pilgrims of hope” was released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network Dec. 3.

Hours after the last visitors and pilgrims left St. Peter’s Basilica for the day, a chisel clanged and dust flew as a group of prelates chanted their prayers before a simple wall marked with a cross.

The head of a Catholic humanitarian agency in Lebanon told OSV News the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire appears to be intact, as he and his team vow to assist those displaced by the conflict “wherever they settle.”

Hundreds of young Catholic adults flocked to Whitby’s Canada Event Center to celebrate their faith as one during this year’s Renew Toronto conference.

As young people become increasingly immersed in a society that encourages individualism and disconnection, educators must strive to develop a holistic form of education that integrates the heart, mind and body, Pope Francis said.

Christians in Japan should keep alive the memory of the persecution their ancestors endured for their faith and should also pray for Christians suffering persecution around the world today, Pope Francis said.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Dec. 4 a challenge to a Tennessee state law banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender, the high court’s first major step toward weighing in on the controversial issue.

The head of a Catholic humanitarian agency told OSV News the nation of Georgia is “being torn apart” after the ruling party suspended European Union membership talks — and “the poor will remain hungry,” she warned.

The world was left stunned when the first images of the rebuilt Notre Dame were published and spread with viral speed as President Emmanuel Macron walked through the bright, unrecognizably beautiful Parisian cathedral on Nov. 29, a week ahead of the Dec. 7-8 official reopening.

In a moving letter, Pope Francis expressed his closeness with the people of Nicaragua as Central American bishops called for a day of prayer for the country on the feast of the Immaculate Conception amid constitutional changes that will lead into an even darker dictatorship.