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Open your hearts to baby Jesus and one another, pope says on Christmas

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Full text: Pope Leo XIV Angelus address on the feast of the Holy Family

Nigerian Catholic Church leaders give mixed reaction to US airstrikes

Barrett discusses Dobbs decision, Roe’s ‘flawed’ reasoning, life at the court, her faith

Across the world, Christmas shines even – and especially – in the darkest places

Scripture Reflection for Dec. 28, 2025, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Open your hearts to baby Jesus and one another, pope says on Christmas

At Christmas Eve Mass, Cardinal McElroy says Jesus’s birth is the first and greatest gift of Christmas

To turn away others is to turn away God, pope says on Christmas Eve

A dream of Bethlehem community: A house for the poor in village where St. Francis staged first Nativity

Special Series

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Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy

This series follows the election, installation, and early pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, offering continuing coverage of his vision, teachings, and leadership of the universal Church. From the Sistine Chapel to Saint Peter’s Square, and beyond, the Catholic Standard chronicles the first steps of this new chapter in the life of the Church.

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the Archbishop of Washington

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Pontifical John Paul II Institute-Spring 2026

Voices

Full text: Pope Leo XIV Angelus address on the feast of the Holy Family

Scripture Reflection for Dec. 28, 2025, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

A call for peace

Experts offer strategies for connection during Christmas amid U.S. ‘epidemic’ of loneliness

Contributors

Msgr. John Enzler

Bishop Evelio Menjivar

Richard Szczepanowski

Mark Zimmermann

Galleries

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Photo Gallery: Annual Walk with Mary procession and Mass

Photo Gallery: Haitian Catholic pilgrimage to National Shrine for Jubilee Year of Hope

Photo Gallery: Commemorating Black Catholic History Month at Sacred Heart Parish

During a Nov. 15 commemoration of Black Catholic History Month at Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, Maryland, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington unveiled a new project that seeks to “honor those enslaved by the Catholic Church in Maryland.”

Photo Gallery: At White Mass, Cardinal McElroy encourages people to see as God sees, and recognize the gifts of all

Photo Gallery: Reinterment Ceremony at Brick Chapel in Historic St. Mary’s City

Photo gallery: 111 th World Day of Migrants and Refugees

Photo Gallery: Let the bells of Nagasaki echo to the world - 80th anniversary Nagasaki Peace Memorial Masses and interreligious dialogues to pray for world peace

Photo Gallery: First day of school at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Washington

Photo Gallery: In Hiroshima 80 years after atomic bombings in Japan, Pilgrimage of Peace events include Memorial Masses and Peace Symposium

Photo Gallery: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Jubilee Year pilgrimage from The Saint John Paul II National Shrine and The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Local

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Baby’s First Christmas: A children’s Christmas story by a local priest, illustrated by students

Cardinal McElroy blesses icon at St. Hugh Church, saying image ‘lifts our eyes to the Lord’

St. Bartholomew student is national winner in Christmas artwork contest

Singers unite for Jubilee Choral Festival at St. Matthew’s Cathedral to mark holy year

US & World

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Nigerian Catholic Church leaders give mixed reaction to US airstrikes

Across the world, Christmas shines even – and especially – in the darkest places

A dream of Bethlehem community: A house for the poor in village where St. Francis staged first Nativity

Cardinal Pizzaballa: Gaza’s Christians long to rebuild life after two years of war

Faith

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To turn away others is to turn away God, pope says on Christmas Eve

Pray for peace in front of the Nativity scene, pope asks children

Pope thanks priests, encourages them to share responsibilities with laity

Photo Gallery: Annual Walk with Mary procession and Mass

Culture

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Born in hardship, sung in hope: the quiet, powerful origins of ‘Silent Night’

The Films of Rob Reiner

Grammy award winner says meeting Pope Leo ‘is something I will carry with me forever’

Come all ye faithful: Christmas carols sing of God’s love, pope says

Junior Saints

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Junior Saints Christmas 2025 artwork and writings

November Junior Saints: Like St. Thérèse, students show their own ‘Little Way’ of drawing closer to Jesus

Junior Saints topic for November: Like St. Thérèse, students invited to show their own ‘Little Way’ of drawing closer to Jesus

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Care for Creation

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Laudato Trees celebrates planting 1,000 trees in Archdiocese of Washington

Believers must care for the poor and creation, pope says

‘Creation is crying out,’ pope says in new message to COP30

Bishops, humanitarian leader urge bold, courageous action at UN climate conference