As the fighting in Gaza drags on, Pope Francis welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican. The Vatican press office said the two spoke privately for 30 minutes.

Trump, who has pledged to carry out “the largest deportation program in American history,” plans to scrap the longstanding ICE policy preventing immigration arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations.

Many Syrians remain apprehensive about how religious minorities, including Christians, will be treated in a new political reality being established by a Sunni militia that is still listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department.

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, by Jill Rice

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church, by Sebastian Gomes

Bishop John Cummins had a significant and lasting impact on the Catholic Church in his own diocese and elsewhere through his quiet leadership and ministry. He was a reminder to many of what Pope Francis meant when he called for bishops who are “pastors, not princes.”

When Irish people went to the polls on Nov. 29, there had been concerns that the nation would see a far-right surge in the Dáil, or parliament, in keeping with trends within the rest of Europe. But Ireland continues to be an outlier.

From Nietzsche and Heidegger to Charles Taylor, Dostoevsky and the Gospels, one believer's journey to faith.

Pope Francis offered a heartfelt appeal for death row prisoners in the United States, which significantly comes as Joe Biden, the second Catholic president in the country’s history, nears the end of his term.

"At times, in our spiritual lives and our pastoral activity, we risk focusing on what is incidental and forgetting what is essential."