An indulgence granted during the Jubilee Year is not just an occasion to “get something” but rather is a sign of the Holy Year, of the moment where the faithful must put themselves in front of God to discover the reality of oneself and see the need for forgiveness, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem said Dec. 29.

Thirteen Catholic “missionaries” were killed in 2024, most of them during the commission of a robbery, but several obviously were targeted for the church work they did.

Offering his condolences, Pope Francis praised former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s Christian faith and his lifelong mission to advance peace.

A Holy Door is an image of God, who awaits the return of his children with open arms, said the archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The Holy Family, though made up of saints and God incarnate, faced real challenges and offers a model for navigating the “dramatic” moments that test all families, Pope Francis said.

A member of the protest group FEMEN was arrested after she jumped the barricade around the Vatican Nativity scene, took off her shirt and tried to grab the statue of the baby Jesus.

A passenger plane arriving from Bangkok exploded after skidding off the runway at a South Korean airport of Muan Dec. 29, crashing into a concrete fence, claiming the lives of most of the 181 people on board.

In a dark sign of descending security in Africa’s most populous country, a Catholic priest has been shot dead on the open road in southeast Nigeria on Boxing Day.

From Nigeria to Mozambique, Sudan and Congo to Burkina Faso, Christians across Africa were victims of horrific persecution in 2024, mainly because of their faith.

Former President Jimmy Carter died Dec. 29 at his home in Plains, Georgia, his presidential library announced. At 100, Carter, who had been in hospice care since February 2023, was the longest-living U.S. president.