Notre Dame kept Christmas going even during two world wars — a beacon of hope amid the bloodshed. Yet an accidental fire in peacetime finally stopped the Paris cathedral from celebrating Midnight Mass this year, for the first time in over two centuries.

As dawn broke after polling day, it was clear that the Boris Johnson earthquake had shattered the “red wall” of Labour strongholds across north Wales and in England’s northwest, Midlands and northeast.

The new film from Terrence Malick tells the dramatic story of the Austrian farmer turned conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter.

Since February 2016, Sant’Egidio has been able to bring 3,026 refugees into Europe using humanitarian corridors. Italy, thanks to the commitment of its episcopal conference and Protestant community, has welcomed the majority of the refugees brought in by Sant’Egidio, reaching a total of 2,448, most of them from Lebanon and Ethiopia.

“People have asked me: ‘How does this compare with Watergate?’” he said, “and I have been quite explicit in stating that what Watergate involved pales in comparison to what the investigations of President Trump’s conduct have revealed.”

British bishops have made the right to life a priority for Catholics ahead of a general election in which two major political parties have promised to liberalize abortion laws.