Religion News Service

As the Vatican unveils its crèches, Pope Leo XIV marks his first Christmas with a calmer tone and a forceful call against antisemitic violence.

As Christianity compels us, we need to put aside our arrogance and partisanship on health care and do what is best for the nation and its people. And, if Congress is incapable of reforming the health care system, we should take away their generous health care plan and put them on Medicaid. That should wake them up.

The anniversary offers an opportunity to reflect not just on what the document says, but on the young papacy of Leo XIV.

Sixty percent of Catholics under 18 identify as Hispanic, but Latinos are underrepresented at Catholic universities. Latinos are also a minority among campus ministers and make up less than 10% of theology students. Experts worry that this lack of access will mean fewer Latinos becoming priests, sisters and others serving the church, even as the church works to transform its institutions to reflect its changing demographics.

Somalis have come, like generations of immigrants before them, to build dreams for those who will follow.

For the past five years, the decline of religion in America has stalled, after years of decline.

"Being rooted in faith is what leads us to be resilient," said the president of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament on Xavier’s Founder’s Day.

Preparing for ICE agents' presence in the city, an interfaith coalition shared best practices for dealing with law enforcement at houses of worship.

But not all schools that attract traditionalist students are avoiding financial challenges or the demographic cliff of fewer college-bound students after Generation Z. 

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said in a statement Wednesday (Dec. 3) that an order to kill survivors of an attack by U.S. forces on a boat in the Caribbean would be wrong if they posed no immediate danger to those forces.

Many Catholic university leaders are trying to thread the needle between staying under the Trump administration’s radar and framing their work with marginalized students as grounded in their Catholic identities.

Just 63% of Catholic higher education institutions have theology or religious studies departments, down from 69% in 2016.

"We live in a world where religion is too often used to justify wars and atrocities," the pope said.

Kate Hennessy, the Catholic Worker co-founder's granddaughter, said Day is a model for her fellow believers "to grasp faith and trust with all we have, even if it is by our bleeding fingertips."

The stories of holy encounter in İznik and across Türkiye need to be told more often.

"This first international trip will be a very public test of Leo's papacy," writes Fr. Thomas Reese. "I don't expect a home run on his first time at bat, but neither will he strike out. A base hit will be a win."

Though President Donald Trump's gains with Hispanic Christians were a crucial part of his winning coalition in the 2024 election, those gains are showing signs of eroding. A year after the election, a majority of Latino Catholics and Protestants have mostly negative views on Trump's job so far as president, especially when it comes to his immigration policies.

Rumors and viral reports about potential ICE raids have immigrant church leaders worried about their congregations. DHS says it doesn’t have plans to raid churches — but won't rule it out.

As many as 500 people, a mix of clergy and other volunteers, have appeared at the training sessions on how to counter ICE.