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VATICAN CITY – Consecrating a new parish church, blessing figurines of the baby Jesus and reciting the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI said the joy of the season comes from knowing Jesus is present among people and can work through them.

WASHINGTON – A U.S. bishops’ pro-life official gave high marks to a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in December that would provide resources and support to pregnant women. “The bill will empower pregnant women to make healthy choices for themselves and their children, born and unborn,” said Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information in the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

The Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School, Essex, Cougars accepted an invitation to the 38th Annual Mercer Invitational Tournament at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., Dec. 14-16 and placed third in a field of eight teams to improve their overall record to 8-1.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Not many changes from his last trip to Antarctica, reported a priest from New Zealand: The ice runway is nearer to the base, it’s colder than 10 below zero, but the sky is blue, he added.

As Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien continues touring the parishes of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, he’s getting to know the different communities.

The rich, melodic sound of horns filled Baltimore’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Dec. 13, ushering in the Christmas season for patrons of Catholic Charities’ Christmas festival.

MACAU – A biblical diary with scriptural reflections by Chinese Catholics went into its second print run in less than a month.

WASHINGTON – Former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim and Tutela Legal director Maria Julia Hernandez, each of whom took center stage during two of the thorniest international debates of the 1980s, were among the prominent Catholics who died in 2007.