NATION/WORLD

Since Christmas, the Missionaries of Charity have been strictly rationing the food and daily use items for their regular 600 beneficiaries at their motherhouse and Shishu Bhavan, a children's orphanage. On Jan. 2, the breakfast of tea, bread, and eggs was cut short by an hour.

As Catholics begin a new year contemplating the motherhood of Mary, they should be inspired not to let problems weaken their faith or prevent them from helping others grow, Pope Francis said.

Christian hope grants those who suffer the assurance that God does not abandon his people in their time of need, Pope Francis said.

Preparations for the Holy Year 2025 have already begun, and Pope Francis has asked the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization to take charge of the efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on families, but with extra patience and faith, bonds can grow stronger, Pope Francis wrote in a letter released on the feast of the Holy Family.

Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul I Sept. 4, 2022, at the Vatican, according to Stefania Falasca, a journalist and vice postulator of the late pope's sainthood cause.

With a view toward staying open and protecting people from a new increase in COVID-19 infections, the Vatican mandated that all employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus or show proof of having recovered from it.

Pope Francis' annual pre-Christmas speeches to the leadership of the Roman Curia often have been reported -- by the media and some members of the Curia itself -- as scoldings.

Thanking Cardinal Peter Turkson for his five years of service as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Pope Francis has decided to name new leadership for the office, said a Vatican communique.

Trevor Alcorn comes from a storied line of brewers. His great-great-grandmother brewed beer in her bathtub in Chicago during Prohibition in the 1920s.