These stories have been handpicked from blogs and news sites around the Web -- some Catholic, some not.https://www.newadvent.org/news/feedburner.xml tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1217732990685038558Headhttps://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-01/pope-calls-on-world-leaders-to-cancel-debt-of-poorer-nations.htmlnull@newadvent.org (null)After his traditional New Years’ Day Angelus prayer, Pope Francis issues a powerful call to political leaders, urging them to “set a good example by canceling or significantly reducing the debts of the poorest countries.” tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1939641903854089828Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/old-testament-and-art-genesis-1-hmmf2po6null@newadvent.org (John Grondelski)Even secular people generally know something of the accounts of creation in Genesis 1-2. Whenever people hear the phrase, “In the beginning,” most instinctively revert to the first pages of the Bible. Yet the accounts of creation are often misunderstood. Some people would dismiss them, claiming “science” or, specifically, “evolution” has disproven them. Others seem to adopt a defensive posture... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3967841746968487508Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/john-paul-ii-blessed-stefan-wyszynski-2-great-iconsnull@newadvent.org (Fr. Raymond de Souza)As the Jubilee of 2025 begins, the legacy of two great millennial Churchmen has prepared the Church for the “Greater Jubilee of 2033,” now on the horizon. The millennial primate, Blessed Stefan Wyszyński, and millennial pope, St. John Paul the Great, brought to the universal Church the Polish sense of Providence in history. Jubilee 2025 is an “ordinary” jubilee year, held every 25 years... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4454649719812465463Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/features/carter-sheen-1979-national-prayer-breakfastnull@newadvent.org (Joseph Pronechen)In his 1979 speech, Archbishop Sheen was as masterful as ever, even though months earlier he had spent four months in the hospital after a heart operation. In fact, his cardiologist was with him there that day because of Sheen’s still-serious condition. Yet the bishop who had gained the attention of audiences worldwide with his preaching was as magnetic as ever... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4501389938362587844Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/features/lambert-our-lady-of-worlds-fairnull@newadvent.org (Aaron Lambert)The Pietà, Michelangelo’s masterful marble sculpture that so mournfully depicts the Virgin Mary cradling Christ’s lifeless body after his crucifixion, is one of history’s most revered and recognizable works of Christian art. It dwells behind a glass encasement in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where it has been for as long as most can remember. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6437129665618622701Lefthttps://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/12/29/carmelite-monks-near-meeteetse-use-modern-tech-to-build-gothic-monastery/null@newadvent.org (null)Say the word monastery and the word medieval is likely not far behind. Monasteries and monks, they just all have an old-world vibe.Perhaps not deservedly so.“When you think of monks, you think medieval, you know, Dark Ages,” Brother Isidore Mary of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming told Cowboy State Daily. “You think of something way back in the past.” tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1110005279256411390Centerhttps://zistezesto.wordpress.com/2023/12/20/chapter-6-exploring-little-and-some-well-known-sites-in-the-holy-land-bethlehems-bright-streets-the-sky-shattered-by-glorias-holding-our-eucharistic-lord-in-the-cave-of-the-nativit/null@newadvent.org (null)This past January (of 2023), I had the amazing opportunity to go back to the Holy Land on another self-guided pilgrimage. I still had more sites that I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to visit and/or that I hadn’t known existed until recently. When I originally planned to do the trip, I was planning to limit my trip to seeing more sites in and around Jerusalem... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1770522212609449288Lefthttps://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/columnists/2024/12/25/christmas-carol-cain-dickens-marley-david-mills/stories/202412250015null@newadvent.org (David Mills)The German branch of his company doesn’t make as much as the American branch, said the man in the nice little bougie restaurant, speaking with scorn, because they get too many holidays. The company doesn’t make them work hard enough. He told his coworker how much more his part of their company made, and shared the secret. “Here’s what you do,” he said. “You fire three people and hire one to replace them.” He seemed to assume... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7105807100723313622Centerhttps://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pleasure-is-never-enough-on-lighting-way-to-joy/null@newadvent.org (Jeff Mirus)Have you ever stopped to consider how closely joy is associated with hope? This is so true that the Latin verb which means “to be without hope” is desparare, from which we get the English word despair. And despair is also what destroys joy. It is the ultimate sadness. I mention this during the Christmas Season because it is the answer to the riddle of our modern pursuit of pleasure... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6071267228661537493Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/news/the-vatican-in-2024-year-in-reviewnull@newadvent.org (null)Vatican news highlights of the year 2024 included Pope Francis’ longest trip, an 11-day journey through Asia and Oceania; the conclusion of the three-year global process known as the Synod on Synodality; and the addition of 20 new cardinals to the body that will choose the next pontiff. All these events reinforced themes that have marked the current pontificate practically from its start: a preference for travel to non-Western countries... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6530770319806979511Centerhttps://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-12/pope-francis-offers-condolences-on-death-of-jimmy-carter.htmlnull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Francis says he is “saddened to learn of the death of former president Jimmy Carter” and offered his “heartfelt condolences” and prayers for those who mourn his passing. In a telegram signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the Pope recalled Carter’s “firm commitment, motivated by deep Christian faith, to the cause of reconciliation and peace between peoples, the defense of human rights and the welfare of the poor and those in need,” and commended him “to the infinite mercies of Almighty God.” tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4819529619827231579Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/saints-and-art-st-thomas-becketnull@newadvent.org (null)Sixty years ago, Richard Burton starred in Becket, a film about today’s saint. The film gets some of the history wrong, e.g., it pretends that Becket was a Saxon (to add to the conflict with King Henry II) when he was, in fact, a Norman. It tends sometimes to favor the monarch (not surprising — when the “Church of England” became a pet lapdog of the monarchy, a bishop like Becket standing for the Church’s rights would not be popular)... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1003153905155291219Centerhttps://lettersformychildren.substack.com/p/the-last-lullaby-for-the-holy-innocentsnull@newadvent.org (null)On this day, we remember the children who were killed in King Herod’s rage after the birth of Christ. To mark this occasion, I want to share with you a hauntingly beautiful song that was written as a lullaby from the mother of a Holy Innocent to her child, about to be unjustly slaughtered. The lyrics come from the “Coventry Carol,” and the song itself is composed by Philip Stopford... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1918569859695947904Lefthttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy8vd2vgyronull@newadvent.org (null)The Pope has called for "hope and kindness" in a message for Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.Pope Francis emphasised the importance of humility in the recording broadcast on Saturday."A world full of hope and kindness is a more beautiful world. A society that looks to the future with confidence and treats people with respect and empathy is more humane," he said. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7143416047479859126Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/saints-and-art-holy-innocentsnull@newadvent.org (null)That the Church honors the Holy Innocents along with St. John the Apostle and St. Stephen the first martyr in the first days after Christmas should not surprise us. The correlation between acknowledging Jesus and suffering would one day be explicitly proclaimed by him. When Peter confesses him as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus’ first words are to say that the Son of Man would suffer, die and rise... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2176280420369249537Lefthttps://media.benedictine.edu/this-sunday-four-astounding-answers-on-home-life-for-the-feast-of-the-holy-familynull@newadvent.org (Tom Hoopes)This Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Year C, and the readings give solid practical advice straight from God to each of our families. Here are takeaways from previous This Sunday columns. Advice from God is badly needed, because we’ve been listening to his his enemy. In a famous radio monologue, the great Paul Harvey explains what he would do if he were the devil. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8771173675461527481Centerhttps://adoremus.org/2024/12/looking-ahead-to-the-solemnity-of-mary-the-holy-mother-of-god/null@newadvent.org (null)Some ancient philosophies emphasize the transcendent realm over the earthly. Plato, for example, held that the things we see in the present world are merely shadows and images of true things that exist in a world beyond us. Similarly, some religions downplay the material world in favor of the spiritual, either because the material world is considered an illusion or evil. In such a religion, redemption consists of escaping the world of the senses for the “purer,” true spiritual world. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2126756601326834238Lefthttp://blog.newadvent.org/2024/12/why-should-you-remain-christian.htmlnull@newadvent.org (Regis Martin)There are many subjective reasons as to why one remains a Christian: the community aspect of it, the justice and charity it provides to mankind, the rituals or aesthetic beauty behind it, etc. While these reasons may be fair, they are far from being considered important and objective reasons. It is important to clarify that the most important reason to remain a Christian is simple: truth. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1338740544102220624Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/fulton-sheen-taught-me-the-true-meaning-of-christmasnull@newadvent.org (Peter Laffin)Like many converts, I didn’t learn my way into Catholicism. I fell in love. The learning came later. I’m still learning, of course. My marriage came about the same way, incidentally. The sound of my wife’s laughter plunged me into the depths of love before I knew her middle name or her favorite ice cream flavor. All that came later. Long story very short: Just after graduating college in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3390208663241939563Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/interview/tadie-father-doat-mont-saint-michelnull@newadvent.org (null)Father Pierre Doat, rector of France’s Mont Saint Michel sanctuary since September 2023, describes his role as one immersed in daily wonder and standing in sharp contrast to the secular Western world, where social disintegration and the culture of death reveal a profound disenchantment. Since his arrival at this landmark of Christendom, which is actually a tidal island in Normandy, this young priest of the Community of St. Martin... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4052816743479074627Centerhttps://heightsforum.org/article/its-a-wonderful-life/null@newadvent.org (null)One of the great Christmas traditions is Frank Capra’s masterful film It’s a Wonderful Life. James Stewart, that most American of actors, plays the lead of George Bailey, an Everyman, a small-town ordinary guy struggling against the deceit, selfishness, and cynicism of a power-broker named Potter. Yet, for all its Americana, I find It’s a Wonderful Life a profound reflection on the teachings of my favorite saint, Francis de Sales, a seventeenth-century French bishop. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4295391107379510011Lefthttps://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/a-just-wage-for-church-employees-a-call-to-conversion/null@newadvent.org (null)By now the Catholic Church’s support of a “living wage” (along with the related but differing “just wage”) is well known. Magisterial social teaching, along with the documents of synods and bishops’ conferences, since the promulgation of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum has consistently upheld his declaration that one “has a natural right to procure what is required in order to live”... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6095717236693263263Centerhttps://parishableitems.com/2024/12/24/3-things-i-didnt-know-about-christmas/null@newadvent.org (Fr. Victor Feltes)When I was younger, I didn’t know what swaddling clothes were. Maybe because “swaddle” sounded like “squalid” and I had seen the inside of messy barns, I imagined they were dirty pajamas. It’s actually an ancient and modern practice to use cloth to wrap up infants’ arms and legs tightly to their bodies. This is called “swaddling,” and babies enjoy it — it reminds them of the warm close comfort of the womb. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4406438665061776569Lefthttps://denvercatholic.org/jimmy-and-the-patriarch-at-christmas/null@newadvent.org (George Weigel)The post-Christmas liturgical calendar may seem a bit Scrooge-like, as the child-centered, innocent joy of the Nativity is quickly followed by three feasts of a different, even sobering, character. First, on December 26: St. Stephen the Protomartyr, stoned to death outside Jerusalem by a mob baying for his blood... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-888308577936673970Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/features/a-charlie-brown-christmas-and-the-bible-passage-that-nearly-disappearednull@newadvent.org (null)An unexpected revelation has shocked many Charlie Brown fans for decades: the realization that Linus’ famous Bible monologue from Charles Schulz’s A Charlie Brown Christmas was nearly cut out completely. The recitation of a few Gospel verses is a scene many cannot imagine the television special without. The passage is meant to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas, captured by Linus’ spotlighted monologue of Luke 2:8-14, which highlights the Nativity scene and the birth of Christ. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6961537156307885548Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/prison-door-catholic-art-de-souzanull@newadvent.org (null)Jubilee 2025 begins with the opening of a door to a prison. Not to let the inmates out, mind you, but to let the Pope in. Soon after opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will visit Rome’s Rebibbia Prison on Dec. 26, where a Holy Door for the Jubilee will be opened, too. Several recent news items have highlighted the role of arts for prisoners — literature, sculpture, drawing and music. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7672232529055870586Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/saints-and-art-st-stephennull@newadvent.org (null)Catholics in the United States generally don’t go to church on Dec. 26, so they might be surprised that — a day after the birth of Jesus Christ — the Church is marking the feast of its first martyr, the deacon Stephen. Catholics in Europe — where Christmas is often a two-day affair — are perhaps more familiar with the red vestments on the “second day of Christmas” or, as another carol puts it, “on the feast of Stephen.” tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2612259118059098022Lefthttps://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/12/on-kneeling-a-response-to-cardinal-cupichnull@newadvent.org (Leah Libresco Sargeant)Putting “O Holy Night” on the program at Christmas Masses in Chicago this year may prove a little awkward. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich’s recent message to his diocese, entitled “As we pray” strongly implies that kneeling to receive the Eucharist should be avoided, hinting that it is selfish and inappropriate. So if a soprano were to let loose a “Fall on your knees” during the Communion procession, the traditional hymn could sound like a provocation. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-881629650900388265Centerhttps://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-12/pope-francis-holy-door-jubilee-of-hope-prisoners-rebibbia.htmlnull@newadvent.org (null)“I wanted the second Holy Door I open to be here at a prison,” Pope Francis explained. For the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, the first Door to be opened was the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on 24 December 2024, then, for the first-time ever, the Pope opened the Holy Door at a prison. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6798567462820032407Lefthttps://tmattingly.substack.com/p/define-christmas-movie-ok-definenull@newadvent.org (Terry Mattingly)What does fruitcake have to do with the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Nothing, that I can ascertain. Fruitcake just sits there on a plate like a dense, heavy, strange condensed cultural symbol of something or another that says “Christmas” or, for many, “The Holidays.” Now, here’s the reason that I bring this up. During my recent Nativity Lent talks at our home parish in Northeast Tennessee, I discussed the many ways that families... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1267870544573364131Centerhttps://life-craft.org/the-gift-god-offers-at-christmastime/null@newadvent.org (John Cuddeback)We are rightly reminded at Christmas to keep in mind the reason for the season, or the reality that we are celebrating. A less-considered but related angle is that our very celebrating can and should change us. Or in any case it can dispose us for what often escapes our notice: a Christmas gift that God really does want to give us. Just what this gift is, what form it takes, is difficult to imagine... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8566855452365771722Lefthttps://www.oursundayvisitor.com/we-need-hope-in-this-wounded-land-latin-patriarch-of-jerusalem-says-ahead-of-christmas/null@newadvent.org (Fr. Patrick Briscoe)Speaking just hours after his wartime Christmas visit to Gaza City Holy Family Parish, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, delivered a poignant Christmas message during a press conference at the Latin Patriarchate Dec. 23. The cardinal called for renewed hope and solidarity in a region marked by violence, displacement and despair. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3882143876752306557Centerhttps://media.benedictine.edu/the-baby-who-changed-nothing-at-all-except-everythingnull@newadvent.org (null)We’re not told what happened to the shepherds after that fateful first Noel, but we can imagine that they might have gotten a little bit discouraged. They heard angels sing Gloria in Excelsis Deo and proclaim peace on earth. Then the angels left, and peace didn’t come. Later, mysterious magi followed a star from faraway lands and laid gifts at the feet of the newborn king... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3556968337566468205Lefthttps://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/261225/pope-francis-launches-jubilee-2025-with-opening-of-holy-doornull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass on Christmas Eve, officially launching the Jubilee Year 2025.“O Christ, bright star of the morning, incarnation of infinite love, long-awaited salvation, sole hope of the world, illumine our hearts with your radiant splendor,” the pope prayed on Dec. 24 during the rite of opening of the Holy Door, which was preceded by readings from the Old and New Testaments, the singing of the O Antiphons, and the proclamation of Christmas. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-386892678879921671Centerhttps://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/261223/photos-cardinal-pizzaballa-shares-christmas-message-after-gaza-visitnull@newadvent.org (null)The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, met with journalists for his Christmas press conference immediately following a visit to Gaza on Dec. 22, where he celebrated Mass and encouraged the Christians there to be a light in the darkness of war.