Catholic News
- Pope Leo: Do not let the world's mirages suffocate Christian family love (Dicastery for Communication)
In his Sunday Angelus address for the Feast of the Holy Family, Pope Leo XIV mused that “unfortunately, the world always has its ‘Herods,’ its myths of success at any cost, of unscrupulous power, of empty and superficial well-being, and it often pays the price in the form of loneliness, despair, divisions and conflicts.” “Let us not allow these mirages to suffocate the flame of love in Christian families,” Pope Leo said yesterday to pilgrims who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “On the contrary, in our families, we should cherish the values of the Gospel: prayer, frequent reception of the sacraments—especially Confession and Communion—healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, and the simple and beautiful concreteness of everyday words and gestures.” The Pope concluded, “Let us therefore ask our Father in Heaven, through the intercession of Mary and Saint Joseph, to bless our families and all families throughout the world, so that by following the model of his Son made man, they may be for all an efficacious sign of his presence and his endless charity.” - Let us be reborn, as St. Stephen was, Pope tells pilgrims (Dicastery for Communication)
In his St. Stephen’s Day Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV upheld the protomartyr as an example of following Jesus and forgiving others. After reflecting on the opposition that following Jesus provokes, Pope Leo said: Like Jesus, Stephen died forgiving others because of a force more real than that of weapons. It is a gratuitous force, already present in the hearts of all, and which is reawakened and shared in an irresistible way when we begin to look at our neighbor differently, offering them attention and recognition. Yes, this is what it means to be reborn, to come once more into the light, this is our “Christmas!” “Let us now pray to Mary and contemplate her, blessed among all women who give life and counter arrogance with care, and distrust with faith,” the Pope concluded. “May Mary bring us into her own joy, a joy that dissolves all fear and all threats, just as snow melts before the sun.” - Pope encourages youth at Taizé meeting to seek Christ (Taizé Community)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, has written a papal message to the 15,000 people taking part in the Taizé Community’s 48th European Youth Meeting, held this year in Paris from December 28 to January 1. “The theme of this year’s letter, ‘What are you seeking?’, written by Brother Matthew, Prior of Taizé, touches on an essential question that dwells in the heart of every human being,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “The Holy Father invites you not to be afraid of this question, but to carry it in prayer and silence, convinced that Christ is walking beside you and that he allows himself to be found by all those who seek him with a sincere heart.” The Taizé Community, an ecumenical French monastic community, was founded by Brother Roger Schütz in 1940. Brother Matthew Thorpe, an Anglican, has led the community since 2023. - Archpriests close jubilee holy doors at Lateran, St. Paul's basilicas (CWN)
As the 2025 jubilee year draws to a close, the archpriest of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran closed the holy door there on December 27. The archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls closed the holy door there the following day. - Papal humanitarian aid for Ukraine (Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV has sent 100,000 packets of food to areas of Ukraine that have suffered bombardment. Pope Leo “not only prays for peace, but wants to be present in the families who are suffering,” said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. - Strive for Christian unity, Ecumenical Patriarch urges in Christmas encyclical (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
In his Christmas encyclical, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople described efforts to strive for Christian unity as “non-negotiable.” “The Gospel of peace especially concerns us Christians,” said the Ecumenical Patriarch, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches. “We consider it impermissible to remain indifferent before the fragmentation of Christendom, particularly when this attitude is accompanied by fundamentalism and explicit rejection of inter-Christian dialogue that ultimately aims at transcending division and achieving unity.” “The obligation of striving for Christian unity is non-negotiable,” he continued. “The responsibility to continue the efforts of the pioneers of the Ecumenical Movement along with the justification of their vision and labor rest on the younger generation of Christians.” - Amid pre-election violence, leading Ugandan prelate calls for repentance (@UgandaEpiscopal)
Amid violence ahead of the 2026 Ugandan general election, the chairman of the Uganda Episcopal Conference called for repentance, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Violence, hatred, and other evils “represent a departure from the commands given by our Lord to his followers,” Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa of Kiyinda-Mityan wrote in his Christmas message. “The events we are witnessing around the campaigns and other forms of human interactions call for repentance, forgiveness, and conversion, knowing that God is always merciful and loving.” - Ohio bishop grants Mass dispensation amid immigration enforcement actions (Diocese of Columbus)
Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, has granted a dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days to “all those persons who reasonably fear being detained, even those with proper legal documentation, who fear separation from the families, experience intimidation because of their status or ethnic background, or other actions of immigration enforcement.” The dispensation, issued on December 23, concludes on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the last day of the Christmas season. - Pope, in Christmas message, proclaims Christ as our peace, says responsibility is 'sure way to peace' (CWN)
In his Christmas message urbi et orbi [to the city and the world], delivered from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV said that Christ is our peace and that “responsibility is the sure way to peace” (video). - Follow the Incarnate Word on the 'rugged road of peace,' Pope preaches on Christmas Day (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 AM on Christmas Day and reflected on the peace that the newborn Christ brings (booklet, video). - 'Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night,' Pope preaches on Christmas night (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass of Christmas night in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 PM on Christmas Eve and preached that Christ’s nativity is the light that illumines human darkness (booklet, video). - 18th-century church in Edinburgh desecrated on Christmas Eve (The Times )
An 18th-century church in Edinburgh, Scotland, was desecrated on Christmas Eve, during the hours when the church was open for prayer between the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass and Midnight Mass. “We ask prayers for reparation tonight on this Vigil of the Lord’s Nativity, for the attack upon the Child Jesus, taken from the throne above the altar; also for the desecration of relics in the Lady Chapel, violence at the crib in the side aisle, and blood spilled in the sanctuary, side chapel and nave,” St. Patrick’s Church said in a statement. - In Bethlehem, Christmas celebrations make a comeback for first time since 2022 (NBC )
Christmas was celebrated with public festivity in Bethlehem for the first time since 2022. “Caesar’s decree seems to dominate the scene: the emperor who counts, records, organizes and govern,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, preached at Midnight Mass there (video). “Yet, without knowing it, that very decree becomes an instrument of a greater design.” “This is one of the great announcements of Christmas: God does not wait for history to get better before He enters it. He enters while history is what it is,” Cardinal Pizzaballa continued. “Thus, He teaches us that no time is definitively lost and no situation is too dark for God to dwell in.” - Nuncio condemns arson attack on West Bank parish (Vatican News)
Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, apostolic nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, condemned an arson attack on the parish in the West Bank city of Jenin. Vatican News reported that during the December 22 attack, “alleged radicalized young Muslims” vandalized a Christmas tree. Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem traveled to Jenin to dedicate a new Christmas tree the next day. The attack cast “a big, heavy shadow on the Christmas spirit’s joy that all our Christian communities, and even non-Christian, have begun to celebrate after two years of being limited to very simple manifestations,” said Archbishop Yllana. “We condemn this absolutely, because we are supposed to live as brothers here.” - Christ comes to transform us, Ukrainian Catholic leader says in Christmas message (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said in his Christmas message that “Christ comes to people in human flesh to transform them, to open up new perspectives for them, to bring joy where there is sadness, to warm where there is cold, to bring the heavenly light of hope where the enemy wants to plunge us into darkness.” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk offered Christmas greetings to “places that no human power can reach,” to “our brothers and sisters in the occupied territories and all those who remain in Russian torture chambers.” Addressing children, the Major Archbishop said, “Do not be like those who are scared and shut themselves in their homes, but, like shepherds with joyous carols, go out to your neighbors, relatives, and friends and sing to them that ‘Heaven and earth are now rejoicing. Angels and people are celebrating joyfully!’” - Archpriest closes holy door at Santa Maria Maggiore (Vatican News)
Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, closed the basilica’s holy door on Christmas evening, as the 2025 jubilee year begins to come to a close. “What is being closed is not divine grace, but a special time for the Church; while what remains open forever is the heart of merciful God,” said Cardinal Makrickas, who noted that 2025 was the first jubilee year since 1700 with two popes. Under the altered schedule for the conclusion of the jubilee year, the archpriest of the Lateran Basilica will close the holy door there on December 27. The archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls will close the holy door there on December 28, and Pope Leo XIV will end the jubilee year with the closing of the holy door at St. Peter’s Basilica on January 6. - Jerusalem cardinal, in Christmas message, highlights Christian way of 'care, tenderness, and love' (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
In his Christmas message, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem contrasted the “common refrain” of “violence, strength, and hatred” with the tenderness and love awakened by the birth of the Incarnation Son of God. “God, through Jesus Christ, enters in our history, enters in our nights in the reality of the most fragile element we know, a newborn child, who is very fragile, in need of everything, dependent on everything, and very weak,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. “A newborn child awakes in everyone tenderness and love, and this is what we need especially in our time,” he added, “and we will continue to be as Christians a place of care, tenderness, and love, without limitations without borders; love without borders; this is what we need right now.” - Do not despair over possibility of Venezuelan bombing, Trinidad vicar general preaches (Trinidad & Tobago Guardian )
In his Christmas homily, the vicar general of Trinidad and Tobago’s sole diocese spoke of fears that “Venezuela might bomb Trinidad, and so we have this specter. We have this darkness that is over us.” “It is not a cause for despair, because Scripture tells us a light shines in the dark, and the darkness did not overcome,” said Father Martin Sirju, as he preached at the cathedral in Port of Spain, the nation’s capital. Father Sirju also called on the wealthy not to hoard toilet paper and other supplies, but instead to remember the poor. - Nigerian priest shot on Christmas Eve (Vanguard)
Father Raymond Njoku, an assistant priest at a parish in Ogbaku in Nigeria’s Imo State, was shot on Christmas Eve as he drove back to the parish rectory. “His vehicle was riddled with bullets, but by God’s grace, none hit any vital organ,” an official of the Archdiocese of Owerri told the Lagos-based Vanguard. “His right hand was injured. He feigned death, and the gunmen fled.” - Indian cardinal sees disconnect between attacks on Christians, government assurances (Catholic Connect)
On Christmas Day, the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (CNEWA profile) spoke of a “contradiction” between the continued violence against Christians in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expressions of respect for Christians. “On one side, the prime minister is taking part in Christmas celebrations,” said Cardinal Basilios Cleemis. “In another place, the opposite is happening.” “Even after informing those in power and hearing assurances, when it comes to putting those statements into action, they have failed,” he added. Cardinal Cleemis’s comments followed a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemning the “alarming rise in attacks on Christians in various states of our country.” - More...