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Pontifical Yearbook launched online

Mgr Ruiz and Archbishop Peña Parra present the Pontifical Yearbook to Pope Leo

The Holy See's official Pontifical Yearbook is now available online, providing up-to-date information on the Catholic Church's institutions across the globe. The new platform offers data on the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, Dioceses, Religious Institutes, and Apostolic Nunciatures. The project was jointly developed by the Secretariat of State and the Dicastery for Communication. Archbishop Edgar... Read More


Dorset: New Bishop of Plymouth opens church in Gillingham

Bishop Hudson at Dedication of St Benedict's church in Gillingham.  Image: Diocese of Plymouth

In response to increasing Catholic congregations and housing growth, one of the first episcopal acts of the new Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Reverend Nicholas Hudson, was to celebrate a Mass for the Dedication of the new church and altar of St Benedict's, formerly a Methodist chapel, in Gillingham, Dorset on Tuesday 9 December. The Gillingham church project was identified against the background ... Read More


New Hall School celebrates jazz-Infused St Cecilia Concert

New Hall School in Chelmsford hosted an exceptional St Cecilia Concert, delighting a packed audience in its historic Chapel with an evening of musical excellence. For the first time since the School's founding in 1642, the entire programme was unified by a distinctive jazz influence, marking a significant and memorable moment in the School's cultural calendar. This annual concert honours St Cecil... Read More


Nigeria: Kidnapped schoolchildren released amid unprecidented security crisis

Empty beds in student dormitory, St Mary's Catholic School on 21 November. Image:  Rev Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, Niger state chapter, Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese

One hundred of the 253 schoolchildren who were abducted in an armed raid on St Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area (LGA) in Niger State were transported to the state capital, Minna, yesterday, 8 December, where they were officially received by Governor Mohammed Umar Bago before being handed over to government officials. Nigeria's Fed... Read More

COMECE expresses concern over EU Court judgement on same-sex marriage

The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) expresses concern in a statement over a recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice on the recognition of same-sex marriages across Member States. In a statement released on Tuesday, December 9, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) expressed concern over a recent judgment issued by the Cou... Read More


Ian Linden: Persecution of Christians - the case of Nigeria

Dr Ian Linden

Most democracies sign up to promoting religious freedom abroad. Trump wants to go in guns-blazing. Others feel uncomfortable raising the question of Christian persecution. Why should Christians get privileged attention amongst the many victims of human rights violations and discrimination? Are they disproportionately victims of violence? In Nigeria the question is particularly contentious. Its pop... Read More


Gospel in Art: It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish

The Emigrant Ship (also known as 'Goodbye'), by Charles Joseph Staniland, 1878 © Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford Museums and Galleries

Gospel of 9 December 2025 Matthew 18:12-14 At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: 'What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the w... Read More


Southwark: CAFOD Advent Carol Service

Actors Ben Lamb and Alex Macqueen, the Cathedral Choir of St George's Cathedral and musicians Cattle & Cane will be performing at this year's Advent Carol Service for CAFOD at 7pm on Wednesday 10 December at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. There will be drinks and mince pies after the service. Ben Lamb Ben Lamb is an actor of stage and screen. He is a regular on the Julian Fellowes peri... Read More


Palestinian performers boost Amos appeal for Gaza

Oud player Saied Silbak

Amos Trust hosted a deeply moving final staging of Alrowwad Theatre Company's latest production Anfaas (Breaths) at a packed Union Chapel, Islington, on Sunday night. The young performers from Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem played the violin, acted, danced and mimed, responding to projected scenes from the genocide in Gaza with profoundly moving ritual power and defiant joy - their signature 'be... Read More


India: Christians demand government action over rising descrimination

Image: Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Around 2,000 Christians representing more than 200 denominations gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India on 29 November to draw attention to increasing hostility faced by Christians and to advocate for long-delayed legal and constitutional reforms. The day-long National Christian Convention, organised by a coalition including the All Indian Catholic Union and the United Christian Forum (UC... Read More


Pope Leo: Believe as Mary believed, say 'yes' to God

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, today, Pope Leo XIV prayed the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square and invited us to believe as Mary did to welcome Christ into their lives. "The 'yes' of the Mother of the Lord is wonderful, but so also can ours be, renewed each day faithfully, with gratitude, humility and perseverance, in prayer and in concrete acts of love, from the most ext... Read More


Gaudium et Spes at 60: social justice and Catholic education

Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ

This conference at St Mary's University, from 3 -5 December, was organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the last document from the Second Vatican Council, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, known as Gaudium et Spes, on 7 December 1965. The opening keynote address was given by Sister Gemma Simmonds CJ from the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge... Read More


Gospel in Art: Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Madonna and Child by Franz Ittenbach, 1855  © Minneapolis Institute of Art

Gospel of 8 December 2025 Luke 1:26-38 At that time: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this... Read More


Pope: Holy See will not be silent bystander amid global inequality and war

Pope receives ambassadors' Letters of Credence. Image Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday received the Letters of Credence of thirteen new Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, representing Uzbekistan, Moldova, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Liberia, Thailand, Lesotho, South Africa, Fiji, Micronesia, Latvia, and Finland. Welcoming them during the Jubilee Year of Hope, he reminded them of its theme and highlighted its call to recover "the confident trust that w... Read More

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