A deadly bomb that exploded during a Mass Dec. 3 killed at least four people and injured dozens at a university in a predominantly Muslim city in southern Philippines.

The Advent call for “vigilance” does not mean staying awake and watchful out of fear, but rather out of a longing for the coming of the Lord, Pope Francis wrote.

The future of humanity depends on what people choose now, Pope Francis said in his message to global leaders at the World Climate Action Summit of the U.N. Climate Change Conference.

For the last decade, Msgr. Paul Bochicchio of St. Francis Church in Hoboken has been advising as a spiritual consultant on the upcoming film “Cabrini,” produced by Angel Studios about the life and ministry of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, set to debut in theaters in March 2024.

Just five states — Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama — carried out executions in 2023, while a majority of U.S. states have banned or paused the practice by executive order, according to a new report by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Most U.S. dioceses will take up an annual collection Dec. 9-10 to help approximately 24,000 elderly religious sisters, brothers and religious order priests pay for retirement necessities, including health care.

The Catholic Church cannot measure people’s engagement with religion only by looking at church attendance, but also must observe how they express religious sentiments outside of church — even on their own bodies, a Jesuit priest said.

Pierre Toussaint, declared “venerable” in 1997 by St. John Paul II, was born into slavery in St. Mark, Haiti, (then known as the French colony of Saint-Domingue) in 1766 and died a free man in New York in 1853.

Many law enforcement officers associate Catholic imagery and symbols with criminality in the U.S. Latino community, a historian researching the American Southwest said.

Catholics in Mexico have condemned an initiative to legalize euthanasia, accusing lawmakers of simply wanting to “save money,” while presenting their proposal “under the guise of false piety.”