Though we may know the first verse and the refrain of a number of Christmas carols, do we know the origin of these songs we sing each December?

The Catholic University of America is facing a “structural deficit of $30 million” that the school “must address through both budget cuts and revenue growth,” said president Peter Kilpatrick in a Dec. 6 email to alumni.

To have a true Christian pilgrimage experience along the Camino de Santiago — the popular pilgrimage in northern Spain that leads to the tomb of St. James — pilgrims must cultivate silence, prayer and charity along their route, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis praised Catholics who support the Pontifical Mission Societies’ work with the poor and those on the margins of society, saying such assistance is a concrete expression of Jesus’ love.

President Joe Biden is nearing the end of his term in the White House with an all-time low approval rating, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Dec. 18 it will hear a case concerning South Carolina’s attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in its Medicaid health program, setting up what could be a major case about the nation’s largest abortion provider’s ability to use public funds in states that have restricted abortion.

Pope Francis has declared as saints 16 Carmelite martyrs executed by guillotine during the French Revolution and confirmed the martyrdom and heroic virtues of five others in a series of decrees published Dec. 18.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago is advocating for Catholic faithful to receive holy Communion standing — the normative posture established by the U.S. Catholic bishops — as part of a renewed awareness of the theology of the Communion procession.

The upcoming celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea is a reminder to Christians that “we profess the same faith, and thus have the same responsibility of offering signs of hope that bear witness to God’s presence in the world,” Pope Francis told leaders of the World Methodist Council.

Pope Francis called on Catholics to focus their Holy Year 2025 pilgrimages on Jesus Christ, who is both the path and destination for Christian hope.