News - December 2025 RSS Feed

For my message today, I want to use something that I wrote nearly seven years ago, as it remains very timely. In addition to being the first day of the New Year, January 1, 2019, was the fifty-second World Day of Peace. Pope Francis has made several observations about good politics being at the service of peace in his message for the World Day of Peace. In talking about the challenge of good politics, Pope Francis noted that “Political office and political responsibility thus constantly challenge those called to the service of their country to make every effort to protect those who live there and to create the conditions for a worthy and just future. If exercised with basic respect for life, freedom and dignity of persons, political life can indeed become an outstanding form of charity.

In my column today I want to print what is probably the most reprinted editorial in any newspaper in the English language. This has become a Christmas custom for me. I am happy to do it again this year. Enjoy!

One of the seven saints canonized on October 19, 2025, by Pope Leo XIV was Saint Vincenza Maria Poloni, ISM. Today I will tell you a bit about her life and her accomplishments.

I am continuing this series of columns on saints canonized by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican almost two months ago. Today we are looking at Saint María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez who was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1903.