FREE access to the digital edition and archives until September 2. Click here. →
Browse › 2018 › December
December 1, 2018
1st Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2 (Year C) Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
December 3, 2018
The Catholic bishops of British Columbia and the Yukon have issued a pastoral statement on legalized marijuana that endorses medical cannabis but stresses that recreational use is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.
VATICAN – Leading thousands of pilgrims in prayer, Pope Francis lit a candle in remembrance of the people of Syria, especially innocent children tormented by the country's eight-year conflict.
WASHINGTON – When he was running for re-election in 1992, President George H.W. Bush told Catholic News Service that he believed that a strong religious faith could provide "an extra shot of strength when you need it."
VATICAN – Christians can turn Christmas into a "pagan" or "mundane" holiday by focusing on the gifts and the tree rather than on the birth of Jesus and his promise to come again, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN – Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas renewed their commitment to peace in the Holy Land and a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the Vatican said.
VATICAN – There is no growth without some form of crisis and no victory without a battle, Pope Francis told a group of Jesuits.
Few events in recent Canadian history have had a greater impact than the massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal. The gunman, Marc Lepine, killed 14 women and injured 14 others in the Dec. 6, 1989 attack before killing himself. His suicide note revealed his hatred of feminists. In the wake of the tragedy, there were changes to gun laws and the creation of an annual national day of remembrance on Dec. 6 to recognize violence against women. Five days following the attack, a funeral Mass for nine of the women was held at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica, as reported in The Register:
The other day, I went to pay my respects to the widow and two children of a friend and neighbor whom I played pick-up hockey with for several years. He was only 55.
I have become used to the cacophony which inhabits the downtown of the city and usually treat it as background noise as I walk around.
KYIV, Ukraine – In a message marking the anniversary of their country's December 1991 referendum on independence from the Soviet Union, Ukrainian Catholic bishops said Ukrainians had a "right and sacred duty" to defend themselves against "Russian aggression," but should also avoid yielding to alarm and panic.
December 4, 2018
The Vatican challenged countries gathered for the 24th U.N. Climate Change Conference to focus on the needs of the present and the future as it worked to take swift action.
PHILADELPHIA – An internationally renowned pioneer in climate science and climate change research, in an address at Villanova University, said that rather than "finger-pointing" about the causes of global warming, people need take collective action to slow the process.
WASHINGTON – The revelation in late November that a Chinese researcher had edited genes in human embryos and then implanted them in a woman was "a train wreck of a thing to do," said an ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.
VATICAN – The Advent season is a time of preparation for the coming of the prince of peace and not a time of making war with those around you, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN – A custom-built 2018 Lamborghini Huracan coupe autographed by Pope Francis is back on the block, but, this time with an online fundraising platform, not at an elite European auction house.
VATICAN – In a book-length interview to be published next week, Pope Francis addressed gifts and challenges for clerical and religious vocations, among them the challenge of homosexuality in the clergy.
December 5, 2018
HARRISBURG, Pa. – In a 6-1 decision Dec. 3, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the identities of some clergy accused of abuse that were redacted from a grand jury report issued in mid-August must remain permanently blocked from release.
VATICAN – Pope Francis expressed his condolences for the death of the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush.
“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.” (Matthew 2:18, quoting Jeremiah 31:15)