The latest boutique hotel to open its doors in Bethlehem’s Old City, just minutes away from Manger Square, is the Morcos Nassar Palace, which doubles as a humanitarian project unique in Palestine and possibly in the Arab world.

Coinciding with the winter solstice, the Longest Night is a prayer service aimed at offering comfort to people who struggle with the in-your-face, over-the-top joy sometimes demanded during the Christmas season.

Electronic encryption allows people to keep a list of information secure and untouchable by centralized powers. To some investors and speculators, and apparently to some Catholics, that possibility holds enormous appeal.

The great Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci, was declared "Venerable" by Pope Francis today, the first step on the path to canonization.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center: “Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 37 percent—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves.”

Catholic Charities USA officials pushed back strongly against allegations from Republican House of Representatives members that its humanitarian responses to the U.S. border crisis were potentially criminal acts.