NATION/WORLD

A young Catholic priest has been beatified as a martyr in Poland, nearly eight decades after he was guillotined by wartime Nazi occupiers for clandestine charity work.

Church leaders and parishes offered prayers for the five people who died and dozens more who were injured, including a Catholic priest, church parishioners and Catholic school students, when an SUV plowed through spectators watching a Christmas parade.

With Advent coming during an ongoing pandemic, Christians are called to hold on to hope and foster a season of compassion and tenderness, Pope Francis said.

Be confident in God like Mary and imitate her by listening and accepting his will, Pope Francis told members of the secular institute of the Missionary Oblate Cooperators of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Francis told young people that, with Jesus, people can find the courage to swim against the current, to be free and authentic, and to stand up for their dreams and ideals of truth, love, justice and peace.

Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Robert G. Casey in a Nov. 13 homily reflected on St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's courage to carry out God's will for her on earth, which often saw her crossing the Atlantic Ocean despite a fear of water.

Sixteen-year-old Roch Egan remembers the moment as a turning point in his faith -- the day when his mother was near death.

On a sunny afternoon, Sister Dorothy Okoli drove an unmarked Toyota Sienna from her convent to a hotel where young girls are trapped in prostitution.

Extreme poverty, the lack of employment that can support a family and desperation are the major drivers of exploitative child labor, Pope Francis said.

The world needs a culture of encounter that can open a way for respectful dialogue that doesn't resort to hostility, Pope Francis said.