“You have become the light of our Church in the entire world,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa told Gaza Christians Dec. 22 during a pre-Christmas visit aiming to bring the joy of the season to the suffering Christian community in the Gaza Strip.

Several hundred people gathered at Magdeburg Cathedral in the evening of Dec. 21 for an ecumenical prayer service to remember the victims of the Dec. 20 Christmas market attack in the central German city, which killed five, including a 9-year-old child, and injured over 40 people, leaving some in critical condition.

Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop J. Gregory Kelly of Dallas as bishop of Tyler, Texas.

President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 20 announced his intention to appoint Brian Burch, currently the president of CatholicVote, as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

A coalition of public, private and faith-based partners plans to gather for a one-hour prayer vigil Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. to remember the lives lost to homicide this year and plead for an end to violence in Baltimore City.