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Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Dec. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Sunday highlighted four virtues of St. Joseph — “piety and charity, mercy and trust” — as guides for Catholics in the final days of Advent leading up to Christmas.Speaking during his Angelus address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the pope said the day’s liturgy invited the faithful to reflect on St. Joseph, especially “at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream.”Calling the Gospel episode “a very beautiful page in salvation history,” Leo described Joseph as a man who is “fragile and fallible — like us — and at the same time courageous and strong in faith.”Referring to the Gospel of Matthew, the pontiff recalled that Joseph of Nazareth was a “just man,” a devout Israelite who observed the law and frequented the synagogue, while also being “extremely sensitive and human.”In the face of Mary’s mysterious pregnancy — a situation that was difficult to understand and accept — the pope noted that Joseph did not choose “the way of scandal” or public condemnation. Instead, he opted for the discreet and benevolent path of planning to divorce her quietly.In doing so, Leo said, Joseph demonstrated he had grasped the deepest meaning of religious observance: mercy.The pope added that Joseph’s purity and nobility became even clearer when the Lord revealed his plan of salvation in a dream, showing Joseph the unexpected role he would assume as the husband of the Virgin Mother of the Messiah.Leo pointed to Joseph’s “great act of faith,” saying the saint left behind the last of his certainties and set out into a future fully in God’s hands.Referring to St. Augustine, the pope said that from Joseph’s piety and charity, “a son was born of the Virgin Mary — Son at the same time of God.”“Piety and charity, mercy and trust,” Leo said, are the virtues the liturgy proposes for the faithful today so that they may accompany Christians through these final Advent days toward “holy Christmas.”The pope emphasized that these attitudes “educate the heart” for encountering Christ and one another and can help believers become for each other “a welcoming manger, a comfortable home, a sign of God’s presence.”He urged Catholics not to miss opportunities during this season of grace to put the virtues into practice — forgiving, encouraging, offering hope to those they live with and meet — and renewing in prayer a childlike trust in the Lord and in his providence.Leo concluded by entrusting the faithful to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, who were the first to welcome Jesus, the Savior of the world, “with great faith and love.”This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Zyabich/Shutterstock London, England, Dec 21, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA). The Catholic Church must be bolder in sharing its vision of human anthropology, expert voices in the Church have warned in response to reports about poor mental health among teenagers in England and Wales.On Dec. 9 the Guardian U.K. reported that 40% of 13- to 17-year-olds in England and Wales affected by violence are turning to AI companions for support because the waiting lists for counseling are so long, with youth leaders emphasizing that vulnerable young people need human connection.Edwin Fawcett, a Catholic psychotherapist based in England and Wales, told CNA in an interview: “Young people would benefit from more readily available resources which boldly and clearly share the beautiful truth of the Church’s anthropology, so lacking in secular mental health care.” “And yet it could be tempting to simply fuel the machinery of our strong structures (e.g. dioceses, parishes, faith schools) with brilliant podcasts and videos — arguably still no match for an AI companion,” he said.“If what’s really lacking is healthy human connection and its modeling, then to better support young people in the long run, I believe we must go upstream, to problems such as inadequate seminary formation and marriage prep, poor support and accountability in Church leadership, and few opportunities for professional training in Catholic psychology,” he continued.“And we also have to remember that as cells in Christ’s body, none of us gets a pass on discerning how we’re each called to take some ownership of the difficult work of individual and corporate integration and growth — which includes caring for the young people right around us, today.”Father Michael Baggot, a professor in bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, has written extensively on AI companionship. He told CNA that the “best insights from contemporary psychological sciences” could be integrated with “a broad and rich traditional Catholic anthropology.”“Youth need flesh-and-blood mentors who embody the messiness and joy of living the Gospel,” he argued. “Mentors can accompany young people in engaging in the embodied community activities (worship, dance, sports, hiking, music, etc.) that AI companions cannot provide. … The entire Catholic moral life is directed to flourishing, that is, happiness in the fullest sense.” “‘The Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person’ shows how to integrate the best insights from contemporary psychological sciences within a broad and rich traditional Catholic anthropology,” he argued.“Formation programs for youth, whether conducted in classrooms, churches, on playing fields, lakes, or mountains, should communicate the adventure of the faith. Formators can help youth discover their talents and unique vocation.”Baggot also suggested that those individuals who have been hurt by AI could share their stories.“Church institutions should foster a welcoming, inclusive community that challenges members and promotes growth in virtue,” he said. “Parishes, schools, orphanages, hospitals, and every family should create space for youth to share their hopes, dreams, and struggles. This daily effort to build healthy communities is central to the Lord’s call to live in communion with him and with our neighbors.”In a statement to CNA, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said there is “little doubt that AI will, increasingly, be a technology that will help people in practical ways. This will include people who need medical and social care and who could be monitored remotely or reminded to undertake certain tasks.”“However, AI companions can never replace real human relationships and, in our parishes as well as in our personal lives, we must reinvigorate the personal relationships — and a relationship with God — that are at the heart of real human fulfillment,” the bishops said. “The interest of so many in the Catholic Church in AI is heartening as it is only through careful discernment that we can ensure that this technology promotes the common good and human dignity.”

The ancient Aqaba Church witnesses to early Christianity in Jordan. / Credit: Sanad Sahliyeh/ACI MENA ACI MENA, Dec 21, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). In Aqaba, a port city on the Red Sea in Jordan, an archaeological church site dating to the late third or early fourth century is being highlighted as one of the world’s oldest purpose-built Christian worship spaces, constructed before Christianity received official recognition in the Roman Empire.Discovered in 1998 during excavations led by a team under American archaeologist Thomas Parker, the structure is being considered a significant milestone in early Christian history.The ancient church of Aqaba is a silent relic bearing witness to early Christianity in Jordan. Credit: Sanad Sahliyeh/ACI MENAThe team of researchers described a basilica-style layout, central nave, side aisles, and an eastern apse, suggesting an already organized local Christian community.Artifacts reported at the site include preserved walls, glass lamps, pottery, and Roman coins, which helped date the building to roughly A.D. 293–303.Nearby, archaeologists also uncovered a cemetery thought to be tied to the same community, with small metal pieces interpreted as parts of a bronze cross.The ancient Aqaba Church is a silent relic bearing witness to early Christianity in Jordan. Credit: Sanad Sahliyeh/ACI MENAWith the site now officially reopened to visitors, Jordanian authorities are framing it as both a cultural landmark and a symbol of the country’s long-standing religious plurality, underscoring Aqaba’s place (ancient “Aila”) in the broader Christian landscape of the region.This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.

Giotto’s Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. / Credit: Buffy1982/Shutterstock Rome Newsroom, Dec 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher.One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan order cared deeply for God’s creation. He also loved Christmas, the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.St. Francis’ meditations on the life of Christ led him to create the first-ever Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, in 1223.From the Holy Land to ItalyIt is believed Francis’ inspiration to do a live representation of the birth of Jesus came from his time in the Holy Land in the years 1219 and 1220.Seeing the holy sites of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection made them feel all the more real — and he wanted to recreate that experience.In November 1223, three years before his death, St. Francis was in Rome to await the pope’s approval of the final rule of his friars.The friar and deacon was already very familiar with the hill town of Greccio, about 50 miles north of Rome. He had first arrived there over a decade prior and would frequently return to preach to the people of the surrounding countryside.Eventually, a hermitage was built for St. Francis a short distance outside the town.The sanctuary of Greccio, Italy. It is nicknamed "the Franciscan Bethlehem" because in this place, in 1223, St. Francis celebrated his Christmas by reenacting the setting of Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella BandiniAhead of his return to the hermitage, two weeks before Christmas, Francis asked his friend, Lord of Greccio Giovanni Velita, to prepare a cave with live animals and a hay-filled manger.The friar had, during his audience with the pope, already received permission to stage the scene of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.According to the first biographer of St. Francis, Brother Thomas of Celano, the friar desired to “re-present the birth of that Child in Bethlehem in such a way that with our bodily eyes we may see what he suffered for lack of the necessities of a newborn babe and how he lay in a manger between the ox and ass.”That was how, in December 1223, in the rocky crags a short distance outside Greccio, people flocked to see the simple scene during Christmas Mass.St. Francis, who was a deacon, proclaimed the Gospel and preached the homily.According to accounts of the moment, fires lit the dark scene while crowds arrived at the spot carrying candles and torches.An eyewitness says a miracle happened at Mass that night.Giovanni Veleti asserted that he saw a real infant appear in the empty manger and that St. Francis took the beautiful child into his arms, holding him to his chest in an embrace.In the period that followed, other miracles were reported, brought about by touching the straw of the manger where the Child Jesus had appeared.Miraculous healings took place after pieces of hay were placed on sick animals or laboring women in difficulty.Pope Francis signs his apostolic letter Admirabile Signum at the place where St. Francis created the first Nativity scene outside of Greccio, Italy, on Dec. 1, 2019. Credit: Vatican MediaGreccio todayThe place where the first Nativity was staged can still be seen today in the Franciscan hermitage and sanctuary outside the main town. The rock is topped by an altar for celebrating Mass and adorned with frescoes depicting Jesus’ birth.Pope Francis visited the spot two times: once in 2016 and again on Dec. 1, 2019, when he signed an apostolic letter on the meaning and importance of Nativity scenes.“All those present” at St. Francis’ Christmas Mass, Pope Francis wrote in Admirabile Signum, “experienced a new and indescribable joy in the presence of the Christmas scene. The priest then solemnly celebrated the Eucharist over the manger, showing the bond between the incarnation of the Son of God and the Eucharist. At Greccio there were no statues; the Nativity scene was enacted and experienced by all who were present.”The Grotto of the Nativity inside the sanctuary of Greccio (Italy). It is a small and simple room. Beneath the altar table is the recess in the rock that, according to tradition, housed the statue of the baby Jesus that miraculously came to life during the reenactment directed by St. Francis. Credit: Marinella BandiniEvery year at Christmas, the people of Greccio stage a live, historical reenactment of St. Francis and the first Nativity scene. The performance is now in its 50th year.This story was first published on Dec. 23, 2022, and has been updated.

Downtown Kansas City, Kansas. / Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA). Multiple Catholic schools in Kansas were targeted by what were apparently hoax bomb threats this week, according to authorities. Law enforcement agencies in the Kansas City area reported investigating threats at numerous Catholic schools on Dec. 19. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas confirmed in a press statement that “several” Catholic schools in the archdiocese had “received bomb threats” on both Dec. 18 and Dec. 19. “At this time, students and staff are safe,” Archdiocesan Superintendent Vince Cascone said in the statement. “Law enforcement continues to investigate, and we are following their guidance closely.”The archdiocese did not post a list of the schools affected by the bomb threats, though local media reported at least 13 schools targeted, 12 of which were Catholic. The Olathe, Kansas, Police Department posted on Facebook that it had investigated a threat at the city’s Prince of Peace Catholic School. “The threat was unfounded, and it was determined that other cities in the metro were receiving similar hoax calls,” the police department said, adding that it was investigating the origin of the call. Roeland Park Mayor Michael Poppa similarly wrote on Facebook that the threats were “unfounded.” The mayor described the hoaxes as “cowardly and deplorable attempts to spread fear and disrupt our community.”Poppa praised authorities as well as staff at St. Agnes Catholic School “for jumping into action immediately to prioritize student safety.”Multiple local outlets, meanwhile, reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is participating in the investigation.