An Israeli counter-drone technology company says that it protected Pope Francis and 60,000 people from a rogue drone at an outdoor Mass in Sastin, Slovakia, on Sept. 15.

Out of the more than 10,000 men and women recognized as saints—which includes 11 Americans and a total of 899 that have been canonized by Pope Francis—none are African Americans.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell take a look back at this year in Vatican news.

The decrease of vocations to religious life, including in the Society of Jesus, is a lesson in humility and a reminder that a calling to religious life depends on God, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Greece.

A Reflection for Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

So, who is Mary? Like any other character in the Gospel, we are meant to try on her life in meditation, to learn from her what it means to be a disciple. Mary is one of us.

“God is not in the devastation. He’s not in the destruction. He was not in the storm,” said the director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky. “But he’s in the response, and that’s where we are.”

Thomas J. Quigley, who worked for 45 years in service to the U.S. bishops, mostly in the realm of foreign policy, died Dec. 11 at age 91.

New migrant caravans to the United States are always forming with large contingents of Central Americans, but there is a growing presence of Haitians, Venezuelans and Brazilians among them.

Protestants account for most of the decline — down 4 percentage points from five years ago and 10 percentage points since a decade ago. Catholics held relatively steady at 21 percent.

A Reflection for the Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent

“Profoundness of the heart grows with silence, silence that is not mutism as I said, but which leaves space for wisdom, reflection and the Holy Spirit.”

We are now in the season of schools plays and Christmas concerts. In the past, it’s been something of an endurance test, hasn’t it? But maybe it’s different this year.

Over the years, the bookworms at America Media have compiled list upon list of books that would make good Christmas gifts. Here is a sample.

Catholic Charities USA is accepting donations at https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org. The site has a button where users can donate money for tornado relief.

Social trust cannot be achieved without working through the long-standing resentments of those populist masses who perceive themselves as the ‘deplorables’ of the elite.

The Vatican Dec. 13 published the list of Pope Francis’ liturgies for the Christmas season.

A Reflection for the Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Father Donald Cozzens was rightly recognized as a prophetic voice and an advocate for church reform throughout his life and priestly ministry.

A Reflection for the Monday of the Third Week of Advent