Catholic News Service

With Christmas just over a week away, visitors came to St. Peter's Square with their Baby Jesus figurines for a traditional blessing by the pope.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Dec. 14 that until "all open allegations are resolved," his predecessor, Archbishop John Nienstedt, is not free to exercise public ministry in the archdiocese.

The farm bill that passed both houses of Congress by wide margins doesn't have money in it to protect endangered species, but it did preserve one that had been on the threatened list: bipartisanship.

As the celebration of Christmas draws near, the plight of the Holy Family calls to mind the sufferings of the many men, women and children escaping war and persecution, Pope Francis said.

"My brother was murdered by a drive-by shooting at the age of 18 years old," says a young man from Chicago whose emotion-stained voice plays in a video.

An English cardinal has told an inquiry into child abuse of his shock at learning that a vicar general of his former archdiocese tried to help two pedophile priests escape to the United States.

For more than 38 years, Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa has preached to the pope and top officials of the Roman Curia. In early January, he will lead the weeklong retreat of the U.S. bishops.

Pope Francis will make a three-day visit to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in May, the Vatican announced.

Since Cardinal Joseph Bernardin introduced the "seamless garment" approach to life issues 35 years ago, the notion has been both divisive and formative for the church, according to speakers at a Dec. 11 panel in New York.

The Field Hospital: Xavier Society for the Blind explores technological advances to enhance religious education and other materials for vision-impaired Catholics.

At noon Dec. 12, the bells of every Catholic church in Strasbourg rang for 10 minutes to honor the victims of a terror attack at a Christmas market the previous day.

When Pope Francis travels to the United Arab Emirates Feb. 3-5, he will meet with the international Muslim Council of Elders, participate in an interreligious meeting and celebrate Mass for the local Catholic population.

Australian Cardinal George Pell reportedly has been found guilty on five charges related to serious sexual misconduct involving two boys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s.

A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police said.

No one should be afraid to turn to God with prayer, especially in times of great doubt, suffering and need, Pope Francis said.

President Donald Trump has signed into law the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, which will provide humanitarian relief to genocide victims in Iraq and Syria and hold accountable Islamic State perpetrators of genocide.

To find Catholics who have left the church, start looking at the faces in the pews, according to a recent report.

Pro-life leaders said they were disappointed the U.S. Supreme Court declined Dec. 10 to hear appeals from Kansas and Louisiana on lower court rulings that have stopped the states from blocking Medicaid funds going to Planned Parenthood.

After more than a century, the United States government has returned three church bells swiped by American forces as war booty from the central Philippine town of Balangiga.

God sends his consolation to those in need of reassurance, even when they are facing death, Pope Francis said.