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December 2016

December 27

Typhoon ravages Philippines; response slowed because of Christmas holiday

December 27, 2016

MANILA, Philippines – The emergency response to a major typhoon that hit the northern Philippines Christmas Day and killed at least six people was slowed because some government and aid workers were on holiday leave, a Catholic Relief Services official said.

December 28

In Christmas messages, patriarchs call for peace amid Christian persecution

December 28, 2016

BEIRUT – Lamenting the exodus of Christians from their ancestral homelands, Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East pleaded for peace and security in their annual Christmas messages.

Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko named archpriest of Rome basilica

December 28, 2016

VATICAN CITY – Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, the Vatican's former vice chamberlain, has retired as archpriest of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Vatican announced.

December 29

Christ's birth invites new thinking in troubled world, Latin patriarch says on Christmas Eve

December 29, 2016

JERUSALEM – Christmas is the door that God keeps open as an invitation for people to enter into communion with him, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said in his Christmas Eve homily.

Vatican says 3.9 million pilgrims visited during Jubilee year

December 29, 2016

VATICAN CITY – More than 3.9 million pilgrims visited and attended papal events, liturgies or prayer services during the Holy Year of Mercy in 2016, the Vatican said.

New York cardinal to participate in Trump inauguration

December 29, 2016

WASHINGTON – New York's Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan will take part in the upcoming presidential inauguration of Republican Donald Trump.

December 30

Berlin archbishop urges families to be inspired by 'Amoris Laetitia'

December 30, 2016

BERLIN – As traditional family holiday celebrations continued with the coming of the New Year, an official with the German bishops' conference encouraged Catholic families to read Pope Francis' exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia ("The Joy of Love").

December 31

Noted biblical scholar Jesuit Father Fitzmyer dies at age 96

December 31, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – Jesuit Father Joseph Fitzmyer, a leading Catholic biblical scholar, died Dec. 24 at Manresa Hall, a Jesuit infirmary in Philadelphia. He was 96.

List of top stories from 2016 reflect wide interests of Register readers

December 31, 2016

One of the more interesting annual exercises for just about any media website is to see which stories gathered the most attention over the last 12 months.

2016 Year in review: walls and bridges

December 31, 2016

Over and over throughout 2016, Pope Francis spoke of walls and bridges. It is an apt metaphor for much of what transpired in the Catholic world in 2016.