"The poor must not be exploited for profit"—Pope Francis VATICAN INSIDER
Voluntary workers are builders of peace and harmony: Pope Francis has thanked voluntary workers across the globe describing their work with men and women in difficulty as a living witness of the tenderness of Christ RADIO VATICANA
"I do not believe Pope Francis will allow communion for remarried divorced"—Cardinal Scola RORATE CAELI
Manila announces 5-day holiday during January papal visit CATHOLIC CULTURE
Pope Francis: Life and Revolution
—
Elisabetta Pique highlights how Pope Francis is changing the way the Church does business US NEWS
—
Elisabetta Pique highlights how Pope Francis is changing the way the Church does business US NEWS
Two new congregations planned in Vatican THE TABLET
Christmas tree arrives at the Vatican
NORTH AMERICA
Georgia school district being sued by American Humanist Association for allowing staff to pray with students CHL
America’s Future in a ‘World on Fire’ — Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz declared it shouldn’t look like today’s, with America no longer a robust leader. "Into that vacuum have stepped nations like Russia, like China, like Iran," Cruz said. "And it has not made the world a safer place."CBN
Obama desperate to implement Executive Amnesty before people discover "grave" consequences of admitting millions into America BREITBART
Police investigate vandalism at Anchorage CathedralCNS
Analysis: Top 5 reasons Common Core has been a disasterCHRISTIAN POST
US birth rate hits all-time lowCATHOLIC CULTURE
Obama administration decides not to hand over documents on IRS abusesBREITBART
Toronto Catholic school board calls HPV vaccines "moral dilemma”THE STAR
Diocese of Orange receives $20 million anonymous donation towards former Crystal Cathedral renovations LOS ANGELES TIMES
Woman arrested for the murder of American mother in Abu Dhabi was not a "lone wolf." House used as "base of operations" for terror plan DAILY MAIL
ISRAEL
Palestinian teenager stabs Jews in crowded East Jerusalem supermarketBIN
Hezbollah children’s magazine glorifies the murder of JewsBIN
RUSSIA
Putin prepares Russia for hard timesBBC
20 dead after Islamic militants seize school in Chetchnya THE WASHINGTON POST
Ukrainian church minister killed on way to pray for wounded soldiers CHRISTIAN TODAY
Putin’s bogus "Crimea-as-Temple-Mount" analogy: In his annual Address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow yesterday, Russian president Vladimir Putin justified his takeover of Crimea on religious grounds. This was, he said, the baptismal place of Prince Vladimir, the ruler who brought about the conversion of the Russian people. RELIGION NEWS
The Russia-China Axis Is Here: A new axis has formed. It is so colossal, the world really could spin on it THE TRUMPET
RECOMMENDED ON ALETEIA
Diane Montagna’s interview with the head of the International Justice Mission reveals how an estimated 35 million people are living in slavery in 2014. "Slavery is about violence. It’s labor that is compelled and forced by violence, and sometimes it’s very brutal violence." ALETEIA
John Burger’s "Christians in Iraq" reports on the significant development of the "Niveveh Plains Protection Units," a coalition of militia groups seeking to defend Christians in Iraq. Read about the challenges they face, and please remember our suffering brothers and sisters in your prayers. ALETEIA
Read how more than one million Syrian refugees face a severe crisis as the UN suspends food aid while declaring "many families will go hungry."ALETEIA
BRITAIN & IRELAND
Church of England to appoint first "headship" bishop to represent those opposed to the ordination of womenCHRISTIAN TODAY
Public to attend reburial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral BBC
Exeter Cathedral appoints first female canon in 900 years BBC
Church of England challenges BP and Shell over global warming THE GUARDIAN
Catholic Church in Northern Ireland ends relationship with Family Care Society over new adoption laws. “It is unreasonable for legislators to oblige faith-based organizations to act against their fundamental and reasonable religious beliefs in the provision of services that contribute to the common good,” said a statement released by Northern Ireland’s Bishops ICBC BELFAST TELEGRAPH
The Church of Scotland should aim to find 100,000 new members by 2025, according to the Moderator of its General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. John Chalmers – and cyberspace is a potential recruiting ground CHRISTIAN TODAY
EUROPE
Finnish Church loses 12,000 memebers as it embraces gay marriage WNG
Barack Obama’s Turkish Fruitcake: The peculiar relationship between Obama and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan TABLET MAGAZINE
AFRICA
Boko Haram kills dozens in fresh terror attack in northern Nigeria FIRST POST
Bishops of the Central African Republic describe current crisis as a "descent into hell"ZENIT
Kenya: Christians urged to leave northern region following spate of terrorist attacks — So the push by Al Shabaab is proving effective, just as with Boko Haram in Nigeria. CHRISTIAN TODAY
"Population controllers are terrorists who are ‘even more dangerous’ than Boko Haram and ISIL"—Bishop Emmanuel Ade Badejo LIFE SITE
MIDDLE EAST
Car bomb kills 35 in IraqBBC
Will an ancient Christian culture disappear unless East and West unite? — The East and West must cooperate to save ancient Christian cultures in the Middle East, to secure peace, and to protect humanity as a whole, an expert in Aramaic culture insists. CNA
"Children in Damascus are freezing to death"—Maronite Archbishop of Damascus CATHOLIC HERALD
Egyptian imprisoned and tortured for becoming a Christian vows to ‘Starve Himself to Death’CHRISTIAN POST
ASIA & CHINA
Vast numbers visit Cathedral in Old Goa, India, to venerate relics of St. Francis Xavier CNA
China promises to stop harvesting organs from condemned prisonersCATHOLIC CULTURE
FAMILY MATTERS
Our Warped World — Woman speaks against anti-abortion activists (an incoherent and questionable diatribe in my view) and her prattle is commended all over social media. People will believe/justify whatever they want, this is a fact, and we should not be surprised about it. Those who profess Christ must act like Christ (or try their very best to) and must employ the values and virtues of His kingdom. This does not give Christians the freedom to participate in any form of murder, either inside or outside of the womb. Hard and difficult words for some to accept but the teaching of God nonetheless. Who will we put first, ourselves or God? DAILY MAIL
British Court of Appeal rules that an unborn child is "not a person"CATHOLIC HERALD
Obama-appointed federal judge overturns Indiana abortion safety lawLIFE SITE
Man strangled girlfriend and forced morning-after pill down her throat to abort childLIFE SITE
Rise in mothers with just one baby as more women take career path DAILY MAIL
~ ~ ~
ADDITIONAL
Working for Putin? Never say never: Tony Blair refuses to rule out working for the Russian leader DAILY MAIL
Is the Catholic Church ready for the Megachurch Movement?PRAY TELL
How Archbishop John Hughes led the New York Irish In the 19th Century ABOUT
Shackled in chains, even in death: Skeletal remains of slaves, gladiators and even children still wearing manacles are found by site of Roman stadium in France DAILY MAIL
And today we celebrate...