As Christmas approaches and “Silent Night” begins to fill churches and homes across the world, it is worth remembering how unlikely its beginning truly was.

Bishop Michael T. Martin, a Baltimore native, has established guidelines for the reception of holy Communion in the Diocese of Charlotte to strengthen unity in worship, uphold the church’s liturgical norms and encourage active participation by the faithful.

For almost 30 years, Father Miroslaw Tosza, a priest of the Diocese of Sosnowiec in southern Poland, has lived in the Betlejem (Bethlehem) community in Jaworzno — a house shared by people who have lost jobs, families, homes, health, sobriety and, very often, trust in anyone at all. Now, he dreams of establishing a retreat house for his poor in Greccio.

In announcing he was stepping down as CEO of FOCUS, an organization that ministers to tens of thousands of students and parishioners, founder Curtis Martin said he will continue to serve the board and “stay on mission with you all.”

People have a deep desire to return to their lives despite the dire and complex situation in Gaza following two years of war, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said at an annual Christmas press conference on Dec. 22.

Entering the centuries-old Royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków on Dec. 20, Cardinal Grzegorz Rys opened a new chapter of one of the oldest archdioceses in Catholic Poland, telling the faithful that without them he “doesn’t make sense.”

Catholics in northwestern Nigeria are celebrating just days before Christmas, as the last group of students kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri has been freed.

At a time when so much pressure and so many demands are placed on priests, they should find support, freedom and relief in recognizing the gifts of laypeople and collaborating with them, Pope Leo XIV said.

The cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople who work in the Roman Curia are called to be a “sign of a new humanity,” founded on mutual love and solidarity, not selfishness and individualism, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Father James A. Misko, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Austin, Texas, as the bishop of Tucson, Arizona.