Pope Benedict XVI and the secretary-general of the League of Arab States signed an agreement on April 23 at the Vatican, pledging to cooperate more closely in the promotion of dialogue, justice and peace. • Northern Ireland’s Catholic bishops have met with representatives of a loyalist group in an effort to build “peace, understanding and reconciliation,” Cardinal Seán Brady (right) of Armagh, Ireland, said on April 25. • The Israeli Civil Administration has ordered workers to stop constructing a platform inside the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank for use during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the camp. An Israeli spokesman said the construction is in an area under Israeli jurisdiction and is being carried out without a permit. • Citing concerns about plans to honor President Barack Obama, former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon has turned down the prestigious Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, which was to be awarded to her on May 17.
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In this episode of Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the 2025 Jubilee Year, beginning on Christmas Eve 2024 and ending in January 2026.
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
‘If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!’
Inspired by his friend and mentor Henri Nouwen, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., invites listeners in his Christmas Eve homily to approach the manger with renewed awe and openness.