From Vatican Radio:  Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is to be made a Saint. Pope Francis on Thursday authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa (nee Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu). Blessed Teresa, known around the world as Mother Teresa was born August 26, 1910 and died September 5, 1997. She was foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity and the Missionaries of Charity. Other decrees authorized... Read more

Just in time for Christmas, and the beginning of the Year of Mercy, comes this incredibly moving testimony, from an unexpected source, ABC News’ 20/20.  You just don’t hear this sort of thing on network television very much: A young Iraqi Christian girl, whose family has been living in a refugee camp after fleeing ISIS threats, says she forgives the terrorist group and shared her hope for the future. “Yes I forgive them,” Myriam told ABC News “20/20” co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas, adding... Read more

From Vatican Radio:  As you arrive at the Holy Door of the Caritas centre for the homeless at Rome’s Termini Station you can’t fail to notice the mosaic logo of the Year of Mercy depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd by Marko Ivan Rupnik. The door will be opened by Pope Francis on December 18th and he will also have the chance to see for himself the newly refurbished night hostel and canteen which are named after Caritas Rome founder Don... Read more

Barry Hudock at OSV lists some of the significant changes we can expect: So what’s different? A few things. First, as with the new Roman Missal, even the same prayers will have a different sound to them. That’s the result of a different set of translation principles — emphasizing more direct translations from the official Latin — mandated by the Vatican’s 2001 document Liturgiam Authenticam. Second, the rite’s title will change. What has been known until now as the Rite... Read more

From The Catholic Review in Baltimore: Maybe it’s the fact that he’s their patron saint. Maybe they admire his steely reserve, or desire to live under his immortal protection. Maybe it’s just the image of a winged warrior with a spear held to Satan’s head. Whatever the reason, police officers, Catholic or not, have a special affinity for St. Michael the Archangel, according to Anita Schatz, a parishioner of St. Stephen in Bradshaw. “They believe in God and they believe... Read more

Fr. Mark Goldasich in the Kansas City newspaper, The Leaven, unloads: Right before Thanksgiving, a friend of mine put something wise on Facebook. Afraid she was getting addicted to the social media site and yet weary of it at the same time, she wrote: “I’m not sure the human psyche was designed to handle all the sadness. A distant [high school] friend’s cousin lost a toddler the other day in an accident. Before FB, I would have never known because I... Read more

How’s this for a great story for the season: A mystery donor told Walmart employees he likes to do something special on his birthday every year. This year, he spent his special day visiting two Northeast Ohio Walmarts and paying off the stores’ entire layaway tabs. That totaled more than $106,000. Managers said he made it very clear he wanted to remain anonymous. Steelyard Commons in Cleveland had the biggest layaway collection with nearly $70,000 in goods and Lorain had... Read more

From Christianity Today:  A tenured Wheaton College political science professor who pledged to wear a hijab during Advent in support of her Muslim neighbors has been placed on administrative leave. Not for donning the Islamic head covering, but over “significant questions regarding the theological implications” of her explanation of why she was doing so. “Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion, and theological clarity,” the college stated in... Read more

Yes, in Michigan:  It may surprise some to learn Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills has a dozen or so Muslim students. It has been that way, say leaders, for many years. But questions have recently been raised, primarily by about a dozen or so angry parents, over a prayer room, which allows those Muslim students to pray on a Catholic school’s property. “When the question was ‘Is there a place that I can pray?’, the answer that evolved... Read more