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.

Ave Maria University is now offering “The Pursuit of Wisdom,” a series of free online courses presented by university faculty that provides practical wisdom and insights on interesting topics and themes to help Catholics contemplate the true, good and beautiful.

The journey of reconciliation between Catholics and Orthodox began with an embrace almost 60 years ago, a sign of how important personal contact and time spent together are in the search for Christian unity, Pope Francis said.

Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the first female U.S. Supreme Court justice, and often a crucial swing vote as a moderate, died Dec. 1 in Phoenix, per a statement from the high court. She was 93.

Indi Gregory, a British girl who died Nov. 13 because her life support was not extended, had a Catholic funeral Dec. 1 in the British Nottingham Cathedral, celebrated by Bishop Patrick McKinney.

All the Catholic Church’s structures, including tribunals and faculties of canon law, must undergo a “pastoral and missionary conversion” to ensure the church is giving the world “the only thing it needs: the Gospel of the mercy of Jesus,” Pope Francis wrote.

Some 3,000 charismatic Catholics living in the Persian Gulf gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for praise and worship and to reflect on God’s call to “be holy, for I am holy.”

The only way to carry out the new evangelization called for by Pope Francis is to adopt the pastoral style of a compassionate, humble, patient and simple priest who walks at the same pace as his people, Cardinal Pietro Parolin told seminarians.

Pope Francis offered condolences to the parents of Indi Gregory and to the mourners at the funeral of “this precious child of God.”

Efforts to meet climate goals must heed both the “cry of the earth” and the “cry of the poor,” said two U.S. Catholic bishops leading committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.