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December 16, 2014
BEIT JALLA, West Bank - Bethlehem might have the Church of the Nativity, but residents of this largely Christian town adjacent to Bethlehem say they have St. Nicholas.
December 17, 2014
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican ended a six-year inquiry into U.S. nuns with a report designed to bury their differences and celebrate their contribution to the Catholic Church.
Catholic doctors who won’t perform abortions or provide abortion referrals should leave family medicine, says an official of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis decried the "inhuman terrorist acts" that killed scores of people the previous day in Australia, Pakistan and Yemen.
Doctors may be men and women of action, but before a patient dies they should be open and available for lots of talk, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is advising its members.
WASHINGTON - Pope Francis personally appealed to President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro this year to encourage both leaders to normalize diplomatic relations, a senior Obama administration official said.
December 18, 2014
VATICAN CITY - Christianity has something to say about human dignity, and "it would be a shame" if differing positions on the sanctity of all human life or on marriage were to increase the divisions among Christian churches and communities, Pope Francis said.
In his new book The Global War on Christians, John L. Allen Jr. follows in the path of Phillip Jenkins’ book, The New Anti-Catholicism, in highlighting growing anti-Catholicism in our society.
If someone who had never heard the story of Jesus were to ask about His origins, we would, I suspect, begin with the story of His annunciation and birth and end with the story of His resurrection and ascension. While that does capture His life, that’s not how the Gospels either begin or end His story. The story of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas can only really be understood by looking at where Jesus came from, His family tree, and by looking at how His story has continued in history. Indeed, that’s how the Gospels tell His story.
WASHINGTON - American Church officials expressed optimism about plans by the United States and Cuba to normalize diplomatic relations and work toward reshaping how the two neighbouring countries interact with each other.
They came by the thousands. Young and old, men and women, Francophone and English, the able-bodied and the infirm, they came despite the driving, biting snow and blustery wind to a church in Montreal in mid-December to bid farewell to hockey legend Jean Beliveau.
OTTAWA - The bill to establish Pope John Paul II Day passed the Senate Dec. 16 and has received royal assent.
Holy Family (Year B) Dec. 28 (Genesis 15:1-6; 17:3b-5, 15-16; 21:1-7; Psalm 105; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Luke 2:22-40) Even though Abraham is our father in faith because he trusted in God, that faith was sorely tested. Abraham had left everything behind — his land, kin and security — and became a wanderer, going wherever God led him.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis welcomed the renewal of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba Dec. 18, saying he was happy to see an end to a half-century standoff between the two nations.
Upon the death of Jean Beliveau I devoted my National Post column to eulogizing the gentleman who exemplified the best that Quebec once produced, a model of what Quebec aspires to be. The treatment was even more generous here in the pages of The Register, with a cover story and a laudatory editorial. It was well deserved.
A colleague scolded me recently for my argument that any attempt to reconfigure the culture must avoid being a pretext for smuggling Christendom back into the story.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis marked his 78th birthday by giving hundreds of sleeping bags to the homeless in Rome, Vatican officials said Dec. 18.
MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - "Our Father" still has a place at Mississauga city council. On Dec. 17, council voted to keep the tradition of reciting the Lord's Prayer to open council meetings.
WARSAW, Poland - Ukrainian Catholic leaders have warned their Church is being driven underground again, a quarter-century after it was re-legalized with the end of communist rule.
December 19, 2014
A new Advent web app is keeping busy families focused on Christ this holiday season.