As the fifth anniversary of his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” approaches, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church will dedicate more than a year to focusing on the family and conjugal love.

On a Christmas like no other, Pope Francis prayed for people who could not be with their families because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he urged everyone to recognize and help those who are suffering even more.

The birth of Christ is a gift from God that brings people hope and courage in troubled times, Pope Francis said Christmas Eve.

While Christmas has become a universal holiday, even for many nonbelievers, its celebration always should focus on the reality that God sent his son into the world to save humanity, Pope Francis said.

Two top Vatican officials — Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello — have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Italian media reported, and a Vatican source confirmed.

The gentle and hopeful show came as the nation grapples with COVID-19, stark political divisions and racial tensions brought by the death of George Floyd.

The Vatican’s doctrinal office said that when alternative vaccines are not available, it is morally acceptable to receive COVID-19 vaccines developed or tested using cell lines originating from aborted fetuses.

A study published last year in the journal, Nature Sustainability, predicted frankincense resin production will be halved in the next 20 years.

Reaching out to and helping the poor “is to imitate God; it is to make oneself small out of love in order to raise up the other,” the preacher of the papal household told Pope Francis, officials of the Roman Curia and Vatican employees.

A new report Dec. 16 by the Death Penalty Information Center said the use of capital punishment reached a historic low this year in the United States even with the return of federal executions by the Trump administration.