ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Despite the pandemic-related dearth of holiday parties and typical social engagements that -- for many -- stuff the weeks before Christmas, Jolene Gerads said she's feeling a special excitement about this year's Advent.

LOS ANGELES  -- Catholics must be "on the lookout" for God, said Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez in a homily Nov. 29, the First Sunday of Advent.

VATICAN CITY -- Remembering the three U.S. religious women and a laywoman brutally murdered during El Salvador's  civil war, Pope Francis hailed them as examples of faith and missionary discipleship.

Separation. It is a reality of life that most of us have encountered in some form in 2020. Whether we have been separated from our families, friends or loved ones, found ourselves removed from our regular routines or felt the symptoms of disconnection from others that manifest spiritually and emotionally, separation has been a prominent feature of this year.

WASHINGTON -- Dorothy Day's need to connect with others and keep neglected people front and center would fit perfectly in the COVID-19 era.

VATICAN CITY -- While sin may distort and disfigure the image of Christ that every person bears, it does not completely erase it, nor does it remove people from God's abundant mercy, Pope Francis said.

WASHINGTON -- To Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in Washington, the naming of Washington's archbishop "as a cardinal is huge, it's historic."

The government is demoting worship to the same status as watching a movie: “non-essential.”  But worship is both a natural and a constitutional right, Archbishop Cordileone states.