Pope Francis offered condolences and prayers for the victims of an earthquake that rocked central Croatia.

While Christmas has become a universal holiday, even for many nonbelievers, its celebration always should focus on the reality that God sent his son into the world to save humanity, Pope Francis said.

I’ve been praying a lot of Hail Marys lately.

When I was young and somehow given the chance to stay home alone, I loved to sit in the quiet house and hear what I could hear. It was strange to me that even without my sisters playing or my great-grandmother’s television blaring, the house was not quiet. I could hear the hum of the refrigerator and the lull of the cars on the main street beyond ours — even our house crackled as it settled.

What’s the best Christmas prayer you have ever experienced?

Each year, as we enter the final stretch of Advent, the church brings forth from its treasury a collection of ancient prayers, “The Great O Antiphons,” which express our longing for the coming of Christ. 

VATICAN CITY – After the Vatican released its extensive report on Theodore E. McCarrick, Pope Francis renewed the Catholic Church’s pledge to uproot the scourge of sexual abuse.

You can memorize this short prayer or keep a copy by your bed and make it the first thing you do when you wake up each day.