Good evening and Merry Christmas!
Hope you are having a blessed Christmas octave and that the joy of celebrating the Child Jesus is with you and yours. Catch up on this week’s news, which include Christmas stories from the Holy Land, Ukraine and around the world, as well as a year-end piece looking at the most important life issues – from abortion to immigration – in 2024.
You can find even more OSV News stories at osvnews.com and on social media @OSVNews. Praying that you have a blessed final days of 2024 and may the Jubilee 2025 be a time of peace for you and those around you.
Maria-Pia N. Chin
Spanish Editor
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Faithful reenact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter at oldest Marian shrine in US
St. Augustine hosted a heartfelt celebration at the Sacred Acre of the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, with “Una Noche de Navidad — A Night of Christmas & Las Posadas.”
War-torn world needs real hope in Christ, say bishops in Jubilee Year messages
U.S. and Canadian bishops are urging Catholics to embrace the virtue of hope in preparation for the church’s Jubilee Year 2025, which began with Pope Francis opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Dec. 24. The theme for the year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” emphasizes the need for hope in a world struggling with challenges and uncertainty.
Why G.K. Chesterton and his wife loved Christmas so much
Known for his wit and insightful reflections on faith, Chesterton’s writings on Christmas continue to resonate, particularly his famous line in “The Everlasting Man,” where he describes the hands of Jesus as too small to reach the heads of cattle in the manger.
POLAND: Little highlanders from Poland win the internet with their midnight Mass caroling
SYRIA: Christians protest in Syria after Christmas tree burned
NIGERIA: Catholic leaders express shock, sorrow over deaths at food distribution events
GERMANY: Pope, bishops, hundreds of faithful pray for victims of christmas market attack
For Holy Land Christians, Christmas means life, as patriarch preaches Jubilee hope
On Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, the spirit of the season was felt, yet the ongoing Israel-Hamas war cast a shadow over the festivities.
We need hope in this wounded land, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem says ahead of Christmas
Cardinal Pizzaballa tells Gaza Christians they are ‘the light’ of the church
In Bethlehem’s empty streets, a shopkeeper fights to keep hope alive
Pope accepts invitation to Ukraine, major archbishop says, but nothing is ‘guaranteed’
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych set Ukrainian hopes high for the Jubilee Year by saying that Pope Francis accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine in 2025. In a Christmas interview for Radio Free Europe, Major Archbishop Shevchuk said that “there is no set time (for the visit) yet, but Pope Francis sometimes likes to make surprises.”
ALSO: May this be Ukraine’s last wartime Christmas, Cardinal Krajewski prays in Kharkiv
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, spent Christmas in Ukraine, bringing a message of peace amid the war. On Christmas Eve, he celebrated an early midnight Mass in Kharkiv, praying for peace near the Russian border and expressing hope that this would be “the last wartime Christmas.” Just hours after his departure, Russia launched a fierce Christmas Day missile attack on Ukraine’s energy system, causing widespread damage and leaving many without heat in winter temperatures.
EARLIER THIS WEEK: Despite fear in Ukraine, keep going, pope tells papal almoner
Wisconsin diocese readies its own ‘Notre Dame’ comeback cathedral
The December reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a devastating 2019 fire marked “a beautiful symmetry” with a similar project underway in a U.S. diocese, a bishop told OSV News. Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison said Notre Dame’s restoration after fire gives his Wisconsin diocese “great hope” for their own project to replace their own historic St. Raphael Cathedral, which was destroyed in 2005 by arson.
KENTUCKY:
BALTIMORE: Over 1,500 venerate skull of St. Thomas Aquinas in Baltimore on relic’s final US stop
Pro-Lifers win free speech case against Minneapolis protest ordinance
In U.S. District Court, the city of Minneapolis agreed to a settlement with the St. Paul-based Pro-Life Action Ministries which included amending a city speech ordinance that kept clinic protesters off a sidewalk that crosses the driveway to the city’s lone Planned Parenthood clinic.
CANADA: Activists decry Canada’s ‘national conversation’ on ‘advance’ assisted suicide requests
As ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ marks 1 year, divisions over Vatican document persist
A year after “Fiducia Supplicans” whipped up a firestorm of controversy in the days before Christmas, the Vatican declaration remains a point of division in the U.S. church and worldwide. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether it has freshly prompted many Catholics in “irregular situations” to seek the kind of blessings it permits.
Life issues – from abortion to immigration – took center stage in 2024
In 2024, debates over life issues, including abortion, euthanasia, and immigration, were marked by intense conflicts and shifting outcomes. Experts suggest that the year will be remembered for its mixed results and an uncertain future on these key issues.
ARIZONA: Jesuits join in ‘heartbreaking’ search for migrants’ remains in Arizona desert
WASHINGTON: Biden commutes most federal death-row sentences to life in prison
DENVER: Illness or demons? Online conference helps discern mental, spiritual health issues
10 resolutions to kick-start your year
Here are a few ideas and suggestions to chart a new path for the coming 12 months. You don’t have to tackle them all; try one or two. You might be surprised at what happens. Our God is the God of astonishment and miracles.
