Catholic News Service

Christmas: Exactly 200 years ago this Christmas Eve — Dec. 24, 1818 — in a little church in what is now Austria, the world heard for the first time a poem set to music that eventually would be hailed as one of the most popular and beloved Christmas carols of all time.

This Christmas will people go to adore and be amazed by Jesus, or will they let themselves be detoured by distractions? Pope Francis asked.

Although Ireland's new abortion law takes effect Jan. 1, by mid-December only 8 percent of family doctors had signed up to provide the terminations.

The nation's criminal justice system "is in need of reform" and the First Step Act "is a worthy 'first step' in the right direction," said Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida.

Several bishops who are planning to join a weeklong U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops retreat to start the New Year are trusting they'll return to their dioceses with a renewed sense of what it means to shepherd the faithful.

Several Mideast-based Christians working on the Syria crisis have joined a growing chorus about U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull some 2,000 American troops from Syria.

Delegations from the Vatican and from Vietnam reported continued progress in their discussions, including agreeing on "upgrading" relations with a permanent papal representative "in the near future."

Citing health and other personal reasons, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar, 69, said he offered his retirement to Pope Francis for "the good of the church."

A preliminary report released Dec. 19 by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan shows clergy sexual abuse of minors in the state to be "significantly more extensive" than what the state's dioceses had previously reported.

The Field Hospital: Fr. Frank Uter sends cards to 4,100 families. He has carried out this tradition for decades, across the Diocese of Baton Rouge at the various church parishes where he has served.

Bishop David Zubik has introduced the independent experts who will run the Diocese of Pittsburgh's new compensation program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

In releasing the Omaha Archdiocese's list of 38 clergy accused since 1978 of criminal sexual misconduct, Archbishop George Lucas acknowledged the report "with sorrow" and knowing it would "cause a great deal of pain and anger."

The Francis Chronicles: Christmas will not be authentic if people get caught up in a frenzy of shopping, presents and meals, all while ignoring the poor and forgetting who the celebration is really all about, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of 69-year-old Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar of Los Angeles after the archdiocese's independent Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board recommended he not be allowed to minister because of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor in the 1990s.

A custom-built 2018 Lamborghini Huracan coupe autographed by Pope Francis is back on the block, but, this time with an online fundraising platform, not at an elite European auction house.

Recipients of grants approved by the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions range from migrant ministry in the Diocese of Stockton, California, to pastoral support to children and families on remote islands in the Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago, American Samoa.

More than 90,000 police and soldiers and a moderate Muslim youth group will help guard nearly 50,000 churches across Indonesia, including some previously attacked by terrorists, during the Christmas period.

Pope Francis has a full schedule of Christmastime liturgies planned for December and January, including the customary baptism of newborn babies Jan. 13, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Here is the schedule for the pope's trip, released by the Vatican Dec. 12. 

The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church welcomed the election of a leader for the country's new independent Orthodox church.