Catholic News Service

The day after Christmas the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, which emphasizes how the story of Jesus' birth is not a "fairy tale," but a call to live as witnesses of the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Intermittent electricity and air raid sirens cannot and should not stop Ukrainians from celebrating the birth of Jesus, said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk ofKyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

In a candid account of his five decades in the Salvadoran church, the country's first cardinal tells of calumnies against El Salvador's St. Oscar Romero, but also of slights against him by other prelates.

Believers do not need to be afraid of obstacles, struggles and choices in life because God is always near, offering his love and guidance, Pope Francis said.

A U.S. archbishop who released a pastoral letter urging wide-ranging conversations toward the eventual eradication of nuclear weapons is one of 10 nominees by the Arms Control Association for its Person/Persons of the Year honor.

Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily stopped the Biden administration from ending a pandemic-related border restriction with a one-page order Dec. 19.

The commutation Dec. 13 of all condemned prisoners on Oregon's death row was one key in the Death Penalty Information Center's 2022 report on capital punishment in the United States.

Pope Francis has appointed two Washington archdiocesan priests, Msgr. Juan R. Esposito-Garcia and Fr. Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, as auxiliary bishops of their archdiocese.

Pope Francis said he wrote a resignation letter in 2013, his first year in office, to be used in case he became physically or mentally impaired and unable to fulfill the duties of the papacy.

Leaders from nearly 200 nations are meeting for the Dec. 7-19 U.N. Biodiversity Conference known as COP15. With scientists warning that the loss of nature is accelerating at dangerous speeds, Catholic activists are urging nations at the biodiversity conference in Montreal to act to protect life on earth at all levels.

Catholic and other opponents of the death penalty applauded Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's decision to commute the sentences of the state's 17 inmates on death row, changing their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The interconnected "moral, social, political and economic crises" facing the world cannot be solved if individuals and nations continue to focus only on their own, immediate interests, Pope Francis said in his message for World Peace Day 2023.

The only way "to protect the dignity and human rights of all, to promote justice, reconciliation and dialogue for the sake of enduring peace and to care for our common home" is to strengthen diplomacy and collaboration among nations, Francis said.

The Vatican has had diplomatic contact with Russia regarding comments Pope Francis made about Russian minorities being responsible for the worst acts of cruelty in the country's war on Ukraine.

As representatives from nearly 200 countries gather for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, environmental activists living in the Amazon region hope the conference's proposals will generate new projects in favor of the forest and the populations that live in the region.

Celebrating Christmas is important and beautiful, Pope Francis said, but he asked people to spend less on their celebrations this year and donate the savings to help the people of Ukraine.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet announced he is filing a defamation lawsuit in Quebec against a woman who accused him of sexual assault.

Recent popes have used the concept of a "Petrine principle" and a "Marian principle" to describe the important role women and men together play in the Catholic Church, but a biblical scholar writing in the Vatican newspaper said it is time to talk about the discriminatory and stereotypical notions behind it.

Disarmament is the only way to build a peaceful future, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

During this "bitter time" of war, hunger, injustice and poverty, Our Lady of Guadalupe invites everyone to open their lives to her son, Jesus, and to learn to love others like he does, Pope Francis said.