Franciscans Nearly Bankrupt, Sony Fallout, 9000 Sunnis Coming to America…

Pontiff warns against sterile egoism rooted in a desire for power — Pope Francis has cautioned Christians against an egoism that excludes the need for God, saying this attitude renders our lives sterile and prevents the Church from bearing fruit 
CNA

Franciscan order on verge of bankruptcy — One of the largest Franciscan religious orders, founded on the humble teachings of St. Francis of Assisi more than 800 years ago, announced it is on the brink of bankruptcy after admitting some of its monks embezzled funds from its accounts (Very sad news indeed) 
RNS

Father Lombardi’s "Ten Commandments" for Catholic communications — “To communicate is to unify” is the first of the “Ten Words of Communication” that Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, has described in a lecture given at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome 
CNA

Pope Francis: 
"I will not be in the Vatican in 10 years"
AUSNEWS

Revealed:
North Korean terror squads infiltrated the US in the 1990s with orders to attack nuclear power stations if war broke out
DAILY MAIL

The New America: 
FBI has mishandled evidence across the entire US — An internal investigation at the Federal Bureau of Investigation has found that the agency mishandled, mislabeled, and lost evidence in every region of the country 
TDB

The coming Muslim invasion: In an announcement made last week, the State Department said "We need to roll out the red carpet for 9,000 Sunni Muslim “refugees” of the Syrian civil war who have been 
hand-picked by the United Nations to resettle in the US." The government plan includes 
no help for Christian refugees 
WND

The New America: 
Wal-Mart uses corporate dollars to promote gay agenda — Walmart is increasingly capitulating to the homosexual-bisexual-transgender agenda. So says the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). The group is calling on Americans to urge Wal-Mart to stop promoting homosexuality and gender confusion (transgenderism) with its corporate dollars. Giving corporate dollars to "gay/trans" groups like GLVF helps Wal-Mart increase its score on the rigged "Corporate Equality Index" (CEI) put out annually by the homosexual group Human Rights Campaign. "During the Christmas season, we should focus on honoring God and His Son, Jesus, who came to earth to die for our sins," says AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera. 
CHARISMA

Arkansas voters repeal local law allowing "tansgendered" men into womens’ restrooms (Thank you Arkansas for bringing some sanity to this absurd piece of legislation!) 
CHRISTIAN NEWS

UN: Israel must pay Lebanon $850m — The UN General Assembly approved Saturday a resolution calling on Israel to pay Lebanon more than $850 million for damages caused by an oil spill allegedly resulting from attacks by the IDF on oil storage tanks during the Second Lebanon War. The resolution, which was passed by a vote of 170 countries supporting and only six opposing, does not obligate Israel to pay (What 
utter nonsense! Will the UN also require the Arab nations surrounding Israel to make reparations for their incessant attacks upon Jewish culture and their opposition to the right for Israel to exist and the lives lost and the resultant economic turmoil suffered since Israel’s re-birth (by UN-mandate) in 1948?) 
JERUSALEM POST

Corrado Paolucci interviews Father Alexis from Burkina Faso, who recounts the story of a child 
"Adama Christmas"born to a Muslim family as the result of Christian prayer! Read how this "Christmas baby" went on to open previously closed doors for the Gospel to enter his father’s village 
ALETEIA

Kidney patients left freezing on hospital ward for two weeks after boiler broke – and when they complained they were told to bring in extra blankets. (Britain’s financially struggling, over-stretched, under-caring National Health Service is probably only going to get worse as the nation adds millions to its "in need" list each year) 
DAILY MAIL

Iraqi prelate says his London church is treated with "profound disrespect" by local Muslims — The west London Orthodox Cathedral visited by the Prince of Wales on Wednesday is habitually treated with profound disrespect by local Sunni Muslims, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop for the UK has said (So disappointing but also, sadly, very much becoming the norm) 
THE TABLET

Cardinal Nichols offers prayers after "horrendous" Peshawar school massacre — Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference in England and Wales, has written to Pakistan’s High Commissioner in London to express his condolences and prayers after the December 16 Peshawar school massacre that resulted in the deaths of 141 people, mostly children  
CCIEW

Islamic leader decries threats against Christians
— Egyptian Muslim leaders have reacted strongly against threats to the Coptic Christian community as Christmas approaches 
CATHOLIC CULTURE

Islamic extremists offering British teenagers cash to become jihadi brides and are grooming them just like sexual predators 
DAILY MAIL
BREITBART

Mideast Christians are genocide victims, says leading Russian Orthodox official — A leading Russian Orthodox official has said that Christians in the Middle East are undergoing what is “effectively genocide” and that “only Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church are speaking out loud about this tragedy” 
CATHOLIC CULTURE

Syrian refugee children get taste of normalcy at Good Shepherd center — It could be the scene of an ordinary school day anywhere. Just a few days before Christmas, the younger students were making decorations and singing carols downstairs, while the older ones were taking their final exams upstairs. But for the Syrian refugee children at the Good Shepherd Social Center in Deir al-Ahmar, getting an education is something many of their young compatriots are missing 
CNS

Kurds Take Mt. Sinjar From ISIS — (Well done to the Peshmerga. May God bless them for their kindness towards Christian minorities and may they one day get a homeland) 
TDB

Iran’s support for Syria tested by oil price drop — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has relied on oil-producing Iran to help him fight a nearly four-year-old civil war and also prop up a currency under pressure 
JERUSALEM POST

Sharp rise in number of Christian girls being attacked in Pakistan (Would you 
please remember the Christian community in Pakistan (our brothers and sisters in the faith) in your regular or occasional prayers and may God bless you as you do so) 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

Pakistani Christian family with daughters gang raped by Muslims: Powerful people threatened us; Police obstructed medical evidence 
CHRISTIAN POST

Asia Bibi: 
"I ask the Pope for his prayers. May God forgive those who misuse my name"
VATICAN INSIDER

Indian Christians decry increase in anti-Christian violence and discrimination — The Christian community in India Is feeling a sense of apprehension and fear at the incidents of violence against Churches and their personnel in various parts of the country 
RADIO VATICANA

India: Eight Mahadalits convert to Christianity in Bihar — The converts told a team of district officials, who visited the village to probe the case Friday following district magistrate Amrendra Prasad Singh’s orders, that they had changed their religion to lead a life of honor and dignity 
DECCAN HERALD

Biking priest’s trek for typhoon victims reaches Davao City — A Catholic priest on a bike trek to pay tribute to the victims of recent typhoons in the Philippines has reached Davao City 
GMA 

China arrests Korean-American Christian Aid worker on false charges — A Korean American Christian aid worker was arrested by Chinese police near the country’s border with North Korea in a sign of the country’s tightening on religious freedoms 
GOSPEL HERALDREUTERS

Doctors who oppose abortion should leave family medicine: Ontario College of Physicians (Why don’t the Ontario College of Physicians go take a long swim in the Hudson Bay this winter!) 
LIFE SITE

The Nuns of St. Jude — Behind the walls of St. Jude’s monastery in Montgomery 
ALABAMA

Christianity rooted in Judaism — Christianity is rooted in the oldest belief system in the world, Judaism, which dates back to the start of the human race and the origins of creation. Both Jews and Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are key biblical figures of the Old Testament, the Jewish Torah 
SUSSEX EXPRESS

Why you should watch old movies, and eschew the smut of the new (Ah .. at last someone speaking my language when it comes to movies!) 
LIFE SITE

A Pope for the Holidays — The holiday season is always a good time to take stock of the year just past and see what we might anticipate in the 12 months to come. In the case of Pope Francis, it is fair to say that a great deal went well. And not only Catholics but all women and men of good will should feel grateful about that (What’s going on with HuffPo, they seem to be publishing an increasing number of not-so-anti-Christian articles these days!?) 
HUFFINGTON POST

Giles Fraser writes in the Guardian on the 
"God who divested Himself of power," all good and well. But, in keeping with the Guardian’s lets-always-have-a-go-at-the-Church policy, Giles is unable to resist the quip "This is not a religion .. which has any need of seats in the House of Lords." Lol! Its just 
too predictable! The Lords Spiritual (the British bishops who sit in the House of Lords) have and continue to be the voice of reason and compassion amidst the sea of secularism which has engulfed our island nation. The voting record of the bishop’s will bear this out! But, of course, their priorities are not the priorities of the Guardian’s mostly left-leaning anti-Christian readers and to whom I wish a Merry Christmas!

Beatus weekend!