A group of delegates, including three U.S. Catholic bishops and the head of a conference of women religious, met with Biden administration officials Nov. 17 to discuss the Catholic Church’s priorities for what Pope Francis has called “our suffering planet.”

When Pope Francis visits Dubai in the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1-3 to address the opening of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, he will be the first pope ever to attend one of the global gatherings that began in 1995.

In a wide-ranging interview, Coadjutor Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne of Hartford spoke about working as a bartender, his hopes for the Catholic Church in Hartford, women’s ordination to the diaconate and relocating the Vatican.

Marking the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi putting together the first Christmas crèche in a cave in Greccio, Italy, the Vatican publishing house compiled texts by Pope Francis about Nativity scenes and asked him to write a special introduction.

A prayer service to spotlight the persecution of Christians around the world expanded its focus this year as one Wisconsin parish included both Muslims and Jews in its remembrance.

Celebrating an outdoor Mass in a camp for migrants amid a cold and unrelenting rain, Jesuit Father Brian Strassburger preached patience. He spoke of “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” from the Gospel of Matthew, urging the assembled migrants to “wait well” as they bided their time in trying conditions.

With hopes growing for a temporary, humanitarian cease-fire, Pope Francis met at the Vatican Nov. 22 with relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and, separately, with relatives of Palestinians suffering under the Israeli siege of Gaza.

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, expressed his happiness at the late-night hostage-exchange agreement reached between Israel and Hamas Nov. 21, and said he hoped it would lead to end to the war which broke out after an Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on 22 southern Israeli agricultural communities along the border with Gaza.

Pope Francis appealed for perseverance in praying for peace, especially in the Holy Land where the conflict is no longer “warfare,” but has become “terrorism.”

A person hearing God’s call to follow him does not mean that person then belongs to a special or privileged clique of the perfect or the “elected,” Pope Francis said.