Pope Francis chose Dec. 8 as the beginning not only of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, but as the date for the inauguration of changes in the church’s annulment process.

In emphasizing mercy as the central duty of the church, the pope is affecting the way church leaders and people in the pews are thinking about family life.

Gov. Lawrence Hogan Jr. and Comptroller Peter Franchot volunteered at Our Daily Bread in Baltimore Nov. 24.

After a long hiatus, Father Beshoner recently relaunched Catholic Under the Hood with a seemingly monumental mission: telling the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church from apostolic times to the present.

Faith opens a window to the presence and working of the Spirit. It shows us that, like happiness, holiness is always tied to little gestures.