Spending time with Catholics, other Christian leaders and top Muslim clerics in Turkey Nov. 27-Nov. 30 and Lebanon Nov. 30-Dec. 2, the pope made formal speeches about how believing in God as the father of all means recognizing one another as brothers and sisters.

A New York state bishop, who is a Baltimore native, has echoed a recent call from the nation’s Catholic bishops to respect God-given human dignity, regardless of immigration status.

Catholics aren’t required to “give anything up” for Advent. And even while the practice of taking on an additional, personal Lenten penance is a well-established and praiseworthy custom, Catholics technically aren’t required to do anything extra for Lent beyond the usual fasting and abstinence from meat (see Canon 1251 of the Code of Canon Law).

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

Surveys indicate that reading books is dropping precipitously across all age groups. This is a tragedy in itself; it’s also a social disaster, as a post-literate society risks becoming a post-rational society. All the more reason, then, to consider giving books for Christmas: books that entertain, inform, and open new horizons of understanding.