Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Church leaders in the Central African Republic are hoping the arrival of U.N. troops will end bloodshed in Bangui, where at least 16 people were killed on Dec. 5 after the city was attacked by supporters of former President François Bozizé. • At a hearing on capitol hill on Dec. 5, Rev. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, urged Congress to extend jobless benefits—due to expire just after Christmas—noting that C.C.U.S.A. will continue to help out, but cannot come close to meeting all the needs of struggling U.S. families. • Flights were cancelled and schools were closed on Dec. 6 in Shanghai as record levels of air pollution shrouded the city in smog. • European officials met Ukrainian opposition leaders in the capital, Kiev, on Dec. 5 in talks seen as a snub to President Viktor Yanukovich, who triggered mass street demonstrations by refusing to sign a key European Union trade deal and seeking closer ties with neighboring Russia. • Pope Francis has requested prayers for 12 nuns and three young women taken away from their convent north of the Syrian capital of Damascus by Islamist rebels on Dec. 2.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Francis, after opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, gives his homily during the Christmas Mass at Night Dec. 24, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
‘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!’
Pope FrancisDecember 24, 2024
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.
PreachDecember 23, 2024
A Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinDecember 23, 2024
While Chesterton wrote on a vast number of subjects, Christmas was a favorite.
Maria Wiering - OSV NewsDecember 23, 2024