Even though the right to protest is guaranteed by international human rights laws and standards, governments keep limiting these laws and restricting such rights, said a new report from rights watchdog CIVICUS Monitor.

The mayor of Lviv, Ukraine, and a team of doctors treating those injured in the war gave Pope Francis a cross with an embedded piece of shrapnel removed from the body of a young girl.

True love of God or love of another person should lead to a sense of freedom, not to a need to possess or control, Pope Francis said.

Every two years the U.S. Postal Service issues a traditional first-class Christmas stamp showing Mary and Jesus, and this year’s stamp features an oil-on-panel painting from the first half of the 16th century titled “Virgin and Child.”

Pope Francis has approved a new law strengthening the oversight of Vatican-related foundations and nonprofit organizations as well as detailing sanctions and clarifying existing norms on transparency, accountability and mandated compliance with anti-money laundering measures.

The Christmas carol “O Holy Night” ranked first in a list of hymns most played in December at Christian churches in the United States.

Colorado designer Lorie Smith, who runs a web design company called 303 Creative, has said she should not be required to create wedding websites for same-sex couples based on her Christian beliefs about marriage.

Meeting with a delegation from the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the pope supported their proposal to launch a series of educational programs aimed at helping Christians and Jews in Latin America tap into their common spiritual heritage to become “agents of social change.”

The season of Advent is a moment of grace to help believers stop being presumptuous and pretending to be self-sufficient, Pope Francis said.

Stopping to gaze at and perhaps pray before a Nativity scene is one of the best ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said.