Eternal hope is the overarching message of Christmas: A child born in a barn changed the world.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris, who had offered to step down to avoid “becoming a source of divisions,” after an article in the Le Point weekly claimed he mismanaged his archdiocese and had an affair with a woman while he was vicar general.

Many were not Catholic, but they arrived at St. Joseph Catholic Church the night of Nov. 30 nonetheless — first a trickle, then a steady stream.

The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee Dec. 1 urged Catholics, people of other faiths and all people of goodwill to unite in prayer that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade in its eventual ruling on Mississippi’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

In the Supreme Court’s first major abortion case in decades – which looked at Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy – the majority of justices Dec. 1 seemed willing to let that ban stay in place.

When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Dec. 1 for the biggest abortion case in decades, all eyes — and ears — will be on the court.

On Nov. 28, 2020, when Pope Francis elevated 13 new cardinals from around the world — including Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the archbishop of Washington — the pontiff reminded them of the importance of remaining as “a pastor close to your people.”

The president of The Catholic University of America said the institution’s law school has replaced an icon of Mary holding Jesus that was stolen after some complained the image of Christ resembled George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.

The Catholic Church must be a home for all, especially for people with disabilities who continue to face discrimination in the world and in the church, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis asked visitors in St. Peter’s Square to join him for a moment of silent prayer for migrants, especially those who recently drowned in the English Channel and in the Mediterranean and those who are freezing on the border of Belarus and Poland.