Members of Italy's Golden Circus perform for Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Dec. 27. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

Pope: Festivities become a facade when Christ is left out of Christmas

Posted by - December 30, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Only when Christ is the focus of the Christmas season do all the colorful lights, carols, special meals and traditions help create a festive and joyous atmosphere, Pope Francis said. “If we take him away, the lights go out and everything become fake, illusory,” he said at his weekly general audience

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Pope Francis delivers his Christmas blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 25. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope prays for world’s suffering children on Christmas

Posted by - December 30, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Those who recognize the Lord in the baby Jesus in the manger also should recognize his presence in children suffering today because of war, poverty and immigration, Pope Francis said. “Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay

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Pope Francis kisses a figurine of the baby Jesus as he celebrates Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 24. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Christmas proclaims hope, charity where fear reigns, pope says

Posted by - December 30, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christmas calls believers to see God’s presence where he is often perceived as absent, especially in the “unwelcomed visitor, often unrecognizable, who walks through our cities and our neighborhoods, who travels on our buses and knocks on our doors,” Pope Francis said. “Christmas is a time for turning the power of

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New poll shows most Americans want to hear ‘Merry Christmas’ at holidays

Posted by - December 30, 2017

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) — A majority of Americans — 59 percent — say they prefer the greeting “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” during this season, according to a new Knights of Columbus-Marist poll. The nearly six in 10 who said they preferred “Merry Christmas” is slightly higher than last year’s 57 percent. This year

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Pope Francis speaks during his annual pre-Christmas meeting with top officials of the Roman Curia and Vatican City State and with cardinals living in Rome in the Clementine Hall Dec. 21 at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Claudio Peri pool via Reuters)

Curia exists for service, not for glory, pope says

Posted by - December 30, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The people who work at the Vatican and in the Roman Curia are supposed to be “sensitive antennas” that faithfully transmit the desires of the pope and receive information from dioceses and Eastern Catholic churches around the world, Pope Francis said. Remembering that the Curia exists exclusively for the service of

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Father Gregory Keller, seen here around 1924, served as a parish priest while making inventions for his brother-in-law's candy company in Georgia. Father Keller, a native of Little Rock, Ark., had a hand in creating the candy cane, a treat that is especially popular at Christmastime. (CNS photo/Diocese of Little Rock Archives)

Priest’s ‘sweet secret’: He invented machine that ‘hooked’ the candy cane

Posted by - December 30, 2017

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CNS) — An Arkansas priest-inventor had a hand in creating the candy canes that you know and love this time of year. The history of the candy cane is a little murky. Legend has it that the candy started as plain white sugar sticks, maybe in the 1600s, according to a 2015

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Reese Buchinger, 12, a seventh-grader at Holy Spirit School in Kimberly, Wis., helps sort items for the food pantry at St. Anthony Parish in Neopit, Wis., Dec. 15. The parish food pantry is located on the Menominee Indian Reservation. (CNS photo/Bob Zyskowski, for The Compass)

Church pantry’s needs take priority over toys for this holiday drive

Posted by - December 30, 2017

NEOPIT, Wis. (CNS) — Not one toy. Bags of flour, boxes of cereal, cans of vegetables, cases of juice, bundles of blankets, bottles of shampoo — they all came off a bus packed with items for the food pantry at St. Anthony Church in Neopit. Boxes filled with toothpaste, tissues and toilet paper were carried

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A man prays during a special Advent Mass Dec. 16 for families and friends who are experiencing grief during the Christmas season at Holy Cross Mausoleum in Edmonton, Alberta. Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton told Mass-goers that the birth of Jesus tells the faithful that God loves his people and wants to draw near to them when they experience loss. (CNS photo/Matthew Bodnarek, Grandin Media)

Mass, fellowship helps grieving families recall loved ones at Christmas

Posted by - December 30, 2017

EDMONTON, Alberta (CNS) — When Gina Marini and her family gather for Christmas dinner, they will continue the tradition they started more than two decades ago: leaving an empty chair for the family patriarch, Giuseppe Arlia. “This is a trying time for us,” said Marini, whose father died around Christmas. “This was 20 years ago,

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Pope Francis greets children after delivering his Christmas wishes to Vatican employees and their families during a special audience Dec. 21 in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

Bring peace on earth and in hearts by going to confession, pope says

Posted by - December 30, 2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Head to confession so Christmas can be a time of peace in your hearts, Pope Francis told Vatican employees and their families. “Yesterday I went to confession for Christmas … and it did me good,” he told the employees during a special audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall Dec. 21.

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His Excellency Ryan P. Jimenez, DD and Dr. Rita A. Sablan, unveiled a copy of the new Diocesan Pastoral Plan during its official launching last Thursday at Joeten-Daidai Social Hall. The launching was attended by the clergy, religious, youth and faithful of the diocese.

Diocese of Chalan Kanoa Launched the New Diocesan Pastoral Pan

Posted by - December 29, 2017

In the presence of the clergy, religious, youth and parish representatives and the local media, His Excellency Ryan P. Jimenez, officially launched the new Diocesan Pastoral Plan, which will mark a road map for the journey of the diocese in the next five years. The simple yet historical event was held at Joeten Daidai Social

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