The first step toward keeping Christ in Christmas is for Christians to make room for him in their hearts, the preacher of the papal household told Pope Francis and top Vatican officials.

Amid increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric and sentiment, the Catholic Church must remain vocal in its ministry to and advocacy for migrants, Catholic leaders said at a Dec. 21 panel.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Charity, landed in Israel on Dec. 22, starting a “journey of closeness” as papal envoy to the Holy Land during a difficult wartime Christmas season.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Dec. 19 found former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Catholic women’s college has reversed its recently updated admissions policy on applicants who identify as transgender, following public pushback and the local bishop’s call to uphold Catholic teaching on the inherent connection between sex and gender.

Following the Dec. 18 release of the Holy See’s declaration permitting blessings of those in irregular relationships, and the ensuing reaction from media and Catholics around the country, U.S. bishops have been responding with their own statements supporting and/or clarifying the document, known as “Fiducia Supplicans.”

The Vatican’s recently published guidance on administering blessings to same-sex couples or other unmarried couples does not affect the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage, Pope Francis said.

Fourteen people were killed and another 25 injured in a Dec. 21 shooting at a university in Prague.

Catholic climate advocates — responding to the urgent call of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”) for immediate and extraordinary changes to avert a climate crisis — are concerned that COP28’s outcomes, while promising, may become “too little, too late” if nations do not muster the resolve to implement them.

Now, the streets of Bethlehem — normally filled with pilgrims at this time of the year — are empty, and many stores and restaurants dependent on tourism are closed.