The names of the prisoners were given in the hope that the pope “may be able to facilitate their liberation or at least an improvement in their conditions of detention,” the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reported.

Every Christian and every Christian community is called to conversion, a process that lasts a lifetime and is needed even more by people who think they are firmly on the path to holiness, Pope Francis told officials of the Roman Curia.

Private citizen groups have arranged for Nativity scenes to be on display at 43 state capitols around the country, a record number, according to a not-for-profit law firm’s tally.

There are birds — lots of birds — gold rings, milking maids, dancing ladies, leaping lords, pipers and drummers, but is there a deeper meaning behind the gifts received in “The Twelve Days of Christmas?”

“Babylon” (Paramount), writer-director Damien Chazelle’s sprawling recreation of Hollywood shortly before and after the advent of talkies, is a film of undeniable artistic intent. Yet its considerable aesthetic strong points are overshadowed by both overt content and an underlying tone that viewers of faith will feel compelled to reject.