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National
BOSTON — Every two years the U.S. Postal Service issues a traditional first-class Christmas stamp showing Mary and Jesus, and this year’s stamp features an oil-on-panel painting from the first half of the 16th century titled “Virgin and Child.” Attributed to a Florentine artist known since the late 1960s as the Master of the Scandicci […]
National
By Kevin J. Jones
Television, internet and billboard ads encouraging people to take a deeper look at Jesus have been running across the U.S. since March, thanks to the nondenominational Christian campaign He Gets Us. With a $100 million price tag and planned Super Bowl spots, He Gets Us is an initiative of the Servant Foundation. The foundation is […]
Global
By Hannah Brockhaus
St. Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated on Dec. 6, is well known as possibly the real-life inspiration for the beloved Christmas character of Santa Claus. Not a lot is known about the historical Nicholas, who was bishop of Myra, a Greek city in modern-day Turkey, during the fourth century A.D. But there are many […]
Global
Christmas this year marks the first time in its history that the European Parliament has allowed a Nativity scene to be set up at its headquarters in Brussels. Until now, officials of the European institution had considered it “potentially offensive.” The efforts of Isabel Benjumea, a member in the EU’s House of Representatives from Spain, […]
National
By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON — In a case examining the scope of free speech protected by the First Amendment, the Supreme Court Dec. 5 ultimately seemed to favor a broad view of free speech. And in this case, the speech involved what a graphic designer who creates websites should not have to say. Colorado designer Lorie Smith, who […]
Parishes
By Zoey Maraist
Parishioners remember the past and recommit to the future during the 25th anniversary year.
Pope Francis
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Making churches accessible and services understandable is important, but having wheelchair ramps and sign-language interpreters is not enough for a parish to call itself “inclusive,” Pope Francis said. The church also must meet people’s needs for “belonging, relating to others and cultivating their spiritual lives so they experience the fullness and blessing […]
Pope Francis
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Stopping to gaze at and perhaps pray before a Nativity scene is one of the best ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said. “In its genuine poverty,” the pope said, “the creche helps us to rediscover the true richness of Christmas and to purify ourselves of so many […]
Pope Francis
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY — The season of Advent is a moment of grace to help believers stop being presumptuous and pretending to be self-sufficient, Pope Francis said. There is only one way to begin a new life: “the way of humility — to be purified from the sense of superiority, from formalism and hypocrisy,” the pope […]
Hope, harmony, humility