The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on families, but with extra patience and faith, bonds can grow stronger, Pope Francis wrote in a letter released on the feast of the Holy Family.

Before giving his Christmas blessing to the city of Rome and to the world, Pope Francis drew attention to the many places around the globe and within human hearts in need of Jesus, the prince of peace.

The celebration of Christmas serves as a reminder that God did not reveal his greatness in a grand spectacle, but rather in the “littleness” of a poor, vulnerable child born in a stable in Bethlehem, Pope Francis said.

If you go to Christmas Mass on Saturday, do you still have to go to Sunday Mass the next day? Is Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, a holy day of obligation this year?

Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul I Sept. 4, 2022, at the Vatican, according to Stefania Falasca, a journalist and vice postulator of the late pope’s sainthood cause.

The Vatican has reaffirmed its support of COVID-19 vaccines with both the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a Holy See communique reiterating Pope Francis’ insistence that getting inoculated is “an act of love.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Lesley Mills told The Western Kentucky Catholic, newspaper of the Owensboro Diocese, in an interview Dec. 15.

The lack of will by politicians to move forward on immigration reform is affecting the lives of 11 million people in the country and something must be done, said the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee.

The birth of the son of God in a humble stable, in the presence of both lowly shepherds and majestic Magi, is a “universal event that concerns all of humanity,” Pope Francis said.

Anyone who has followed the pontificate of Pope Francis will know that he consistently encourages the young to learn from their elders and to remember their roots.