EDMONTON – A much smaller group of pilgrims than usual is heading off to World Youth Day from Edmonton this week. But the anticipation is huge.

Myriam Guevara Mann still remembers looking out to a crowd of 800,000 people before she danced the biggest show of her life. 

WASHINGTON – Many will make sacrifices to attend the upcoming World Youth Day in Panama in late January, but few compare to the challenges facing young Catholics in nearby Nicaragua as the country deals with political and economic upheaval, some of it involving violent clashes with government forces that have plagued the Central American nation since last year.

The young artists who enter The Catholic Register’s annual Christmas drawing contest express themselves in many artistic forms. 

Bethlehem has seen many changes this past century, much of it due to the effects of war and an ever dwindling Christian population — but its drawing power never ceases, especially at this time of year. The grotto of the Church of the Nativity is the destination for many — the birthplace of Christ. It was the same 99 years ago, as reported in The Catholic Register of Dec. 25, 1919:

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Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but for some it can be the loneliest. 

“The Huron Carol” you may have so enjoyed singing and listening to all these Christmases — well, it’s not the true words of St. Jean de Brébeuf’s you have been led to believe.