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U.S. national and rainbow flags are pictured on the U.S. embassy in Moscow on June 30, 2022.

Trump could reverse State Department, USAID’s efforts to push gender ideology, abortion

Dec 5, 2024

By Tyler Arnold

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, officials have used USAID and DOS to promote transgenderism and other elements of gender ideology... Read more

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Bible boom: Why are people buying so many Bibles?

Dec 5, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

As recently reported by the Wall Street Journal, Bible sales rose 22% in the U.S. through the end of October... Read more

Iraqi Christian youth gather at the Ankawa Youth Meeting in 2022.

Iraqi Christian youth voice their views on the Church and their future

Dec 5, 2024

By Georgena Habbaba

A survey conducted between 2022 and 2024 by ACI MENA revealed young Iraqi Christians’ views of the Church and of... Read more

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral on Nov. 29, 2024. The cathedral is set to reopen with a planned weekend of ceremonies on Dec. 7–8, 2024, five years after the 2019 fire that ravaged the world heritage landmark and toppled its spire.

A sign of ‘renaissance’ in Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral to reopen this weekend

Dec 5, 2024

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The Paris cathedral reopens on Dec. 8, but the celebrations for the cathedral’s return to worship will last until Pentecost... Read more

Jaime Mayor Oreja inaugurates the sixth Transatlantic Summit of the Political Network for Values ​​held in Spain’s Senate.

International pro-life summit: Faith isn’t imposed but doesn’t hide either

Dec 4, 2024

By Nicolás de Cárdenas

The theme for this year’s Political Network for Values ​​Transatlantic Summit from Dec. 1–2 in Spain was “For Freedom and... Read more

Zion Lutheran Church in Long Valley, New Jersey, is one of two churches that have won a victory against county officials who were excluding them from a historic preservation grant program.

Judge says New Jersey county can’t exclude churches from historic preservation grant

Dec 4, 2024

By Daniel Payne

The parishes were supported in their lawsuit by the First Liberty Institute and the University of Notre Dame School of... Read more

Opponents of transgender treatments on children gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4, 2024, as justices hear oral arguments for a challenge to a Tennessee law banning transgender surgeries and hormones for minors.

Supreme Court seems skeptical of claim that Tennessee’s transgender law is discriminatory

Dec 4, 2024

By Tyler Arnold

Tennessee’s law restricting transgender surgeries and drugs for minors is being challenged by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice and... Read more

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed a legal brief in which he argued that Missouri’s regulations on abortion providers are consistent with Amendment 3 and are justified on grounds of patient safety and informed consent.

Missouri attorney general defends pro-life abortion laws amid legal fight over new amendment

Dec 4, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

Missouri’s Amendment 3 mandates that the government “shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” Read more

Pope Francis meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Dec. 4, 2024, at the Vatican.

Pope Francis, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán talk Ukraine and family policies

Pope Francis received the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, at the Vatican on Wednesday. Read more

Palliative care.

Palliative care doctors in UK say assisted suicide bill rests on ‘misconceptions’

Dec 4, 2024

By Madeleine Teahan

The Association of Palliative Medicine in the U.K. is opposed to changing the law on assisted suicide in England and... Read more

Father Lawrence Hecker pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and raping a teenage boy in the 1970s, heading off a long-delayed trial that launched with an indictment last year. 

New Orleans priest pleads guilty to 1970s kidnapping, rape of teenager

Dec 4, 2024

By Daniel Payne

Father Lawrence Hecker’s trial was repeatedly delayed this year amid Hecker’s ill health and uncertainty over his mental competency to... Read more

Pope Francis is shown the new popemobile, an electric Mercedes, on Dec. 4, 2024, at the Vatican.

Mercedes-Benz presents Pope Francis with new modified G-Wagon ‘popemobile’

Dec 4, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Ola Källenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz, presented the pope with a white and chrome key fob inside a white box... Read more

Pope Francis blesses a toddler during his general audience on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis: Preaching must rely on Holy Spirit, keep homilies under 10 minutes

Dec 4, 2024

By Kristina Millare

“Preachers must preach an idea, a feeling, and a call to action. Beyond eight minutes the preaching starts to fade,... Read more

Cardinals outside the Paul VI Hall.

21 new cardinals to reflect Catholic Church’s unity amid geographic expansion

Dec 4, 2024

By Kristina Millare

While the College of Cardinals will still largely be European, after the Dec. 7 consistory more than 90 countries will... Read more

Main lobby of Orr Elementary in Tyler, Texas.

New Bible curriculum in Texas public schools faces scrutiny

Dec 4, 2024

By Kate Quiñones

Critics of the curriculum cite fear it will “entrench religion in public life” and could “diminish the protections that are... Read more

Bishop Carlos Herrera is president of the Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua.

Central American bishops call for day of prayer for Catholic Church in Nicaragua

Dec 4, 2024

By Walter Sánchez Silva

The bishops of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala are inviting the faithful to participate in a day... Read more

Andrea de Walderstein (left) and Antonio Boemo are spearheading the recreation of a local lagoon in a Nativity scene for St. Peter’s Square. Walderstein is the Nativity’s architect, designer, and construction manager, and Boemo is the coordinator and leader of the project.

A lagoon in St. Peter’s Square? Vatican Nativity scene set to make a splash

Dec 4, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

For the first time, a crèche in St. Peter’s Square will feature a large body of water thanks to the... Read more

Church of Panagia tou Arakos, triumphal arch, wall paintings, Lagoudera, Cyprus — north side, St. John of Damascus.

7 things to know about the last Church Father

Dec 4, 2024

By Jimmy Akin

On Dec. 4 we celebrate St. John of Damascus, also known as St. John Damascene, priest and religious, who also... Read more

The traditional ceremony to verify and ascertain that the Holy Door, closed during the last holy year, is intact, sealed, and ready to be reopened at the beginning of the new Jubilee 2025 was led by the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti on Dec. 2, 2024.

Traditional rite to demolish wall protecting Holy Door held at St. Peter’s Basilica

The ceremony is a traditional one to verify and ascertain that the Holy Door, closed during the last holy year,... Read more

Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, and Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach of the Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Arlington, Texas.

The conflict between the Carmelite nuns of Arlington and the bishop of Fort Worth: a timeline

Dec 3, 2024

By Matt McDonald

The following timeline is based on court documents; news stories; public statements on the website of the Diocese of Fort... Read more