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Magazine

Pope Leo XIV holds a figurine of baby Jesus during Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 24, 2025. (OSV News/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas Message

By OSV News | December 26, 2025
By Pope Leo XIV, OSV News (OSV News) — The following is the full text of the “urbi et orbi” blessing given by Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Dec. 25, 2025. Dear brothers and sisters, “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Savior has been born in the world. Today, true peace has come down to us from heaven” (Entrance Antiphon, Christmas Mass ...
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Advent candles, available in the public domain via Unsplash.

Embrace Hope at Christmas: A Maryknoll Reflection

By Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns | December 24, 2025
By John Keegan, M.M. The Nativity of the LordDecember 25, 2025Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 Celebrating Christmas is a matter of allowing our joy to be touched by painful realization. For the fleeting moments of celebration, our attention is drawn to the saving power of gentleness and innocence. But, the world beyond our celeb...
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Schoolchildren from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Nigeria, arrive at the Niger State Government House Dec. 8, 2025, after being freed from captivity following their abduction by gunmen Nov. 21. Church officials confirmed that the remaining 130 students were released on Dec. 21, ending a month-long ordeal that began when more than 300 pupils were abducted from the diocesan school in Niger State. (OSV News/Marvellous Durowaiye, Reuters)

Kidnapped Nigerian Catholic Schoolchildren Will Be Home for Christmas

By OSV News | December 23, 2025
By Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News (OSV News) — Catholics in northwestern Nigeria are celebrating just days before Christmas, as the last group of students kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri has been freed. Church officials confirmed that the remaining 130 students were released on Dec. 21, ending a monthlong ordeal that began when m...
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Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, greets children as he visits the compound of Gaza City’s Holy Family Parish during his Christmas pastoral visit Dec. 19-21, 2025. He arrived prior to Christmas in a sign of closeness with a community that endured two years of war. (OSV News/Courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardinal Visits Holy Family Parish in Gaza

By OSV News | December 22, 2025
By OSV News (OSV News) — In a sign of closeness as Christmas approaches, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, accompanied by the Latin Patriarchal Vicar Bishop William Shomali and a small delegation, arrived in Gaza Dec. 19 for a pastoral visit to the Holy Family Parish. During his visit, he planned to “review the cur...
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Maryknoll Affiliates in Albany, New York, hold signs at a prayer vigil on the feast day of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants, Nov. 14, 2025. Photo courtesy of the Maryknoll Affiliates and shared on their Facebook page.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: A Maryknoll Reflection

By Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns | December 18, 2025
By Louis and Janet Tullo, Maryknoll Affiliates Fourth Sunday of Advent December 14, 2025 Isaiah 7:10-14 | Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-24 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”— Matthew 1:23 Last year, the Gospel reading for today focused o...
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Abdul Mannan Khan and his disabled son Abu Mosa Khan meet with Maryknoll Father Robert McCahill at their home in Munshigonj district, Bangladesh, on Nov. 18, 2025. The priest visits villages daily to find disabled children and connect them with medical treatment. (Stephan Uttom Rozario/Bangladesh)

Father Bob on a Bicycle: Serving Disabled Children in Bangladesh

By Catholic News Agency | December 18, 2025
By Stephan Uttom Rozario, CNA Father Robert T. McCahill, a Maryknoll missioner who works in health care for poor, disabled people in Bangladesh, marks 50 years of service in the country this December. Over his five decades in Bangladesh, Father McCahill has served in 13 administrative districts in the Muslim-majority nation, spending three years in...
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A woman prays during evening Mass at St. Michael Cathedral in Minna, Nigeria, Dec. 4, 2025. (OSV News/Marvellous Durowaiye, Reuters)

From Nigeria to Belarus, 2025 Marks a Grim Year for Religious Freedom

By OSV News | December 17, 2025
By Paulina Guzik, OSV News (OSV News) — As 2025 draws to a close, the plight of persecuted Christians around the world remains dire — and in many places, deeply forgotten. The year has exposed how fragile religious freedom is, even as the faithful strive to survive with courage, hope and community. Regina Lynch, executive director of Aid to the...
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Supporters of José Antonio Kast, a member of the far-right Republican Party of Chile, celebrate after Kast won the presidential runoff election in Santiago Dec. 14, 2025. Chile’s bishops congratulated Kast for claiming the South American country’s election while calling for the president-elect to “promote an environment of dialogue, encounter, and respect, essential for rebuilding social trust” amid deep divisions and rising concerns over crime and migration. (OSV News/Juan Gonzalez, Reuters)

Chile’s Bishops Send Letter to New Catholic President

By OSV News | December 16, 2025
By David Agren, OSV News (OSV News) — Chile’s bishops’ congratulated José Antonio Kast for claiming the South American country’s election, but called for the president-elect to “promote an environment of dialogue, encounter, and respect, essential for rebuilding social trust” amid deep divisions and rising concerns over crime and migra...
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A woman is pictured in a file photo praying at St. Anthony Church in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar’s military is continuing to target churches in predominantly Christian regions in the Buddhist-majority country, ignoring appeals by the Catholic Church and world leaders, reports ucanews.com. (CNS/Jorge Silva, Reuters)

Myanmar Military Strike on Hospital Kills at Least 35

By UCA News | December 15, 2025
By Sithu Kyi, UCA News A deadly airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a hospital in Rakhine state has killed at least 35 people, mostly patients and injured dozens, sparking strong condemnation at home and abroad. The Dec. 10 strike on Mrauk-U District General Hospital in the city of Mrauk-U came during attempts by government forces to reclaim terri...
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A mural depicts village life at the entrance of the district of Santa Rita in Chalatenango, El Salvador, in a photo taken Dec. 22, 2022. (Wikimedia Commons/El Salvador)

Third Sunday of Advent: A Maryknoll Reflection

By Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns | December 11, 2025
By Sarah Bueter, MKLM Is. 35:1-6a, 10 | Jas. 5:7-10 | Mt. 11:2-11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. — Matthew 1:11 In this Sunday’s reading from the Gospel According to Matthew, John the Baptist waits in expectation from his...
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A file photo shows pilgrims making their way to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. As Dec. 12 approaches, millions of pilgrims are converging on the basilica, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world. (OSV News/Felipe Courzo, Reuters)

Guadalupe Pilgrims Throughout the Hemisphere Prepare for Celebration

By OSV News | December 10, 2025
By Ines San Martin, OSV News (OSV News) — As Dec. 12 approaches, millions of pilgrims are converging on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world. The feast honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe — celebrated across the Americas and in the Philippines — is again drawing crowds far beyond Mexico’s b...
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Sudanese refugee children from al-Fashir stand at sunset at the Tine transit refugee camp in eastern Chad Nov. 23, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army. Drones attacked a kindergarten and hospital in the town of Kalogi, Sudan, Dec. 4, killing more than 100 people, including children. (OSV News/Amr Abdallah Dalsh, Reuters)

Religious Leaders Call For Ceasefire After Attacks in Sudan Kill Children

By OSV News | December 10, 2025
By Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News (OSV News) — A Catholic bishop in South Sudan appealed for peace, respect of human life and the protection of civilians in Sudan, as the town of Kalogi, South Kordofan region, reeled from the deaths of over 100 people killed in drone strikes. According to reports the drones struck the al-Hanan kindergarten while stude...
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy greets Pope Leo XIV during a meeting at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo Dec. 9, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Dialogue, Diplomacy Can Lead to Lasting Peace in Ukraine, Pope Says

By OSV News | December 9, 2025
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the importance of dialogue and his hopes for a just and lasting peace in the region. “In addition, the questions of prisoners of war and the need to assure the return of Ukrainian children to their families we...
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