World News
Lebanese Guides, Scouts hope to raise Christmas hope amid despair
In an effort to brighten an otherwise bleak Christmas, the Maronite Girl Guides and Boy Scouts of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Parish in Mtaileb, north of Beirut, initiated a food drive for the needy.
Pope blesses statues of baby Jesus, ‘face of the neediest’
Pope Francis invited children to pause in prayer on Christmas Day and, like Jesus, to be bridges where they live. "What is better, building bridges or walls?" he asked them. "Bridges," they shouted.
Prayers of the old are powerful, pope tells elderly peers
On the eve of his 83rd birthday, Pope Francis met with a group that defends the rights of older workers. "Talk to young people," he said, "not to clobber them" but "to sow something. This dialogue is the future."
Marking 50 years as priest, pope presents writings of his mentor
Pope Francis personally presented a multi-volume collection of writings Dec. 13 by his longtime spiritual director, the late Jesuit Father Miguel Angel Fiorito, calling it a "distillation" of "spiritual mercy."
Sainthood causes require full investigation, pope says
Before saints are proposed to Catholics for imitation and veneration, a scrupulous investigation is required, Pope Francis said, without mention of the freeze on the cause of U.S. Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
Celebrate Christmas with poor in mind, Ghanaian prelate says
At an ecumenical program in Ghana, Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie called for easing "the situation of the abandoned, the marginalized, the forgotten, the sick, the aged, the needy" at Christmas.
Priest, ex-spokesman for 9 Indian dioceses, arrested for fraud
A Catholic priest arrested Dec. 11 in central India will remain in custody after laypeople accused him and two accomplices of duping 377 people in a residential property scheme.
People’s hearts yearn for God, not possessions, pope says
The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what life is all about, Pope Francis told an international group of performers, whose songs help reawaken the question, "What is it that I am waiting for in my life?"
Indonesian bishops to take steps to address claims of sexual abuse
The secretary of the Indonesian bishops' seminary commission confirmed the claim saying that his commission had received reports from sources detailing at least 56 abuse victims.
Martyrdom comes from following Christ without compromise, pope says
Martyrdom "is the sign that we are on Jesus' path; it's a blessing from the Lord that within the people of God there is someone who gives this witness of martyrdom," he said.