Judge dismisses suit by Covington Catholic students (Courthouse News) Defamation and harassment claims brought by students at Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School against CNN, the Washington Post and NBC were dismissed by a federal judge Wednesday after he found that none of the twelve plaintiffs had been defamed or unlawfully threatened. The suit stems from a confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial in January of 2019 during the annual March for Life, and followed on the heels of CNN’s settlement with fellow student Nicholas Sandmann…
Czech media: nail that may have been used in Crucifixion found (Sputnik News) An item that may be related to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has recently been discovered by archaeologists at the Milev monastery in the Czech Republic, Czech News Agency reports. According to the media outlet, the artifact in question, a “six-inch-long piece of a nail”, was found in a cavity in the monastery’s vault, stored in a box made of oak wood dated approximately to the 4th-5th century…
First known nativity scene figurines go on display (CNA) The first known nativity scene figurines are on display this Christmas in one of Rome’s oldest basilicas. The underground Chapel of the Nativity in the Basilica of St. Mary Major — known to Italians as Santa Maria Maggiore — once contained at least six marble nativity statues sculpted by Arnolfo di Cambio in the late 13th century. The figurines were commissioned in 1292 by Pope Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan pope, who was inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, creator of the first living nativity in Greccio, Italy, in 1223…
A surprising connection made between California Catholics and Presbyterians in Chicago (Inland Catholic Byte) A casual thrift store purchase by Father Gino Galley turned into a heart-warming ecumenical exchange between the The Holy Name of Jesus parish in Redlands and a Presbyterian church in Chicago. Fr. Galley had stumbled across a pencil drawing of Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago while browsing in a thrift store several months ago. He purchased it and intrigued, Fr. Gino researched the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Google and decided to send the artwork back to their congregation. He also saw the outreach as an opportunity to express prayer and solidarity with this faith community during a difficult year…
Struggling with the holidays? There is hope (OSV) With your family this Christmas, and frankly all year long, give the gift of a cherishing gaze. Look for the good in them. Look harder. Ask God to help you not only see it but rejoice in it and gracefully point it out to them. Frankly, it’s fun. It is like being on a treasure hunt. Like the five loaves and two fishes, when you find the treasure and share it, it grows. And something almost miraculous happens…
A Gaffigan Christmas (NCR) Midnight Mass is not a Gaffigan Christmas tradition. We learned this the hard way. Who would have thought going to a packed church in the middle of the night with a bunch of small children and nowhere to sit is the perfect recipe for an enormous large-Catholic-family fail? For our family, going to a vigil Mass before our family dinner became our tradition. We’d also find a Christmas Day Mass close to noon, hopefully somewhere between our hotel and my parents’ house…
