To see headlines suggesting that not having kids is in some way selfish would be painful. But did Pope Francis really say that?

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J.—standing in for Colleen Dulle —and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell survey the pope’s plans for the new year.

“My hope for L.G.B.T. Catholics is that they all feel welcome and comfortable in any parish in the world,” Sister Gramick says. “That they might feel just as much a part of the church as anyone else.”

We have learned a lot about sexual abuse by Catholic clergy since The Boston Globe unveiled its investigation in 2002, writes an expert in child protection. That is bringing us closer to the goal of seeing no new cases.

“All the prices are ridiculously high,” said Manuel Jeremías Ake, a father of six in California. “We were struggling to buy what we could afford. But now, forget about it. I’ve never seen anything like this in this country.”

A synod on synodality is a process about a process. And that stuck with me. A process about a process seemed to be without content. Where would this lead us?

My dad was and is an alcoholic. Al-Anon gives me a framework for naming my situation, taking responsibility for my actions and making changes so that I can live a (more) emotionally sober life.

Seeing these shows, I was reminded of Dickens’s famous ghosts, warning us about where we have been, where we are and where, if we’re not careful, we may be headed.

A retired priest of the Diocese of Arlington, who for seven years oversaw the diocese’s program on protecting minors from clerical sexual abuse, was indicted shortly before Christmas on two counts of sexually abusing a minor.

In a year filled with good news and bad, more than a few Catholics stood out in the crowd (for better or for worse).