The Hamas militant group Nov. 26 released a third group of hostages numbering 17, who include 12 Israelis, one American woman and an Israeli-American child and three Thai nationals, according to The Associated Press, and Israel confirmed it freed another 39 Palestinians.

President Joe Biden said Nov. 26 that he and first lady Jill Biden, “together with so many Americans are praying,” for 4-year-old Abigail Edan, an Israeli-American child who was in the third group of hostages released a few hours earlier by Hamas.

Explaining that he had a “problem with inflammation of my lungs,” Pope Francis led the recitation of the Angelus prayer from the chapel of his residence rather than from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

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.