On the feast of the Church’s first martyr, Saint Stephen, Pope Leo XIV reflects on martyrdom as a “birth into heaven” and on Christmas joy as the choice to live fraternity, forgiveness and peace in a world marked by fear and conflict.

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In their annual Christmas message, Uganda’s Catholic Bishops have urged the Electoral Commission to take firm control of the electoral process and called on security forces to refrain from violence, as the country approaches the general elections scheduled for 15 January 2026.

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CNA Staff, Dec 25, 2025 / 22:08 pm (CNA).

With the support of the Nigerian government, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military has carried out strikes against elements of ISIS in Nigeria that “have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.”

“I have previously warned these terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump said of the Dec. 25 action. 

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that “precision hits on terrorist targets” in the country’s northwestern Sokoto state were carried out in cooperation with the United States.   

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support and cooperation” in the counterterrorism effort. 

Upon announcing the action, Trump emphasized that “under my leadership, our country will not allow radical Islamic terrorism to prosper” and that further strikes will be carried out if the “slaughter of Christians” continues in Africa’s most populous country.

Applauding the action, Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, a Catholic who has championed the cause of persecuted Nigerian Christians in the U.S. House of Representatives, said that “tonight’s strike in coordination with the Nigerian government is just the first step to ending the slaughter of Christians and the security crisis affecting all Nigerians.”

This is a developing story.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 25, 2025 / 16:07 pm (CNA).

At the Christmas Eve Mass celebrated in Bethlehem, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, affirmed that “one of the great messages of Christmas” is that God “does not wait for history to improve before entering into it” but rather embraces human reality.

During his homily, the cardinal explained that the birth of Jesus does not occur outside of time or apart from political events but within concrete history. “God does not create a parallel history. He does not enter the world when everything is finally ordered and peaceful” but rather “enters into real, concrete, sometimes harsh history.”

Commenting on the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, which places the birth of Christ in the context of a decree by Emperor Augustus, the patriarch indicated that this detail has profound theological significance. “The very history that claims to be self-sufficient becomes the place where God fulfills his promise,” he affirmed, adding that “no time is ever truly lost, and no situation is too dark for God to dwell in it.”

Pizzaballa emphasized that, although the emperor’s decree seems to dominate the scene, “unbeknownst to him, it becomes an instrument of a greater plan.” Faced with the logic of power that “counts, registers, and governs,” God responds with the logic of the gift, giving his Son in the fragility of “a child born without power.”

In this context, he recalled that Christmas is not an escape from the world’s problems. “Christmas is not a refuge that removes us from the tension of the present time,” he warned, but rather “a school of responsibility,” because Christ “does not wait for circumstances to be favorable: He inhabits them and transforms them.”

The patriarch also referred to the announcement of peace on the night of Jesus Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, clarifying that it is not a superficial peace. “It is not a mere balance of power nor the result of fragile agreements,” he explained, but rather “the fruit of God’s presence in history.” However, he added that this peace “is given, but also entrusted,” and only becomes real when it finds “hearts willing to receive it and hands ready to protect it.”

Speaking from the Holy Land, Pizzaballa acknowledged that the current reality remains marked by deep wounds. “We come from years of great suffering, in which war, violence, hunger, and destruction have marked the lives of many, especially children,” he stated. Nevertheless, he emphasized that it is precisely in this context that the Christmas message resonates most powerfully.

Finally, the patriarch urged people not to remain neutral in the face of the complexities of history. “The darkness of the world may be profound, but it is not definitive,” he said, reminding everyone that “the light of Bethlehem does not blind, but illuminates the path,” and is transmitted “from heart to heart, through humble gestures, words of reconciliation, and daily decisions for peace.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Merry Christmas! May your hearts be filled with the light of Christs coming into the world as you celebrate the day! Merry Christmas from Bishop John Iffert! "Let joy ring in your heart and know that God...drew us all together...

Denver, Colorado, Dec 25, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

The Catholic calendar has several ways to divide the Christmas season. The Church’s Western liturgical tradition sees Christmas as an octave, an eight-day celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The octave of Christmas begins on Christmas itself, the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. It ends on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Jan. 1, which this season falls on a Thursday in the new year of 2026.

The drama of this time of the Catholic liturgical calendar even includes changes to the liturgical vestments of the clergy.

During these eight days of Christmas, clergy wear white during the Mass.

But there are exceptions when clergy wear red, the symbol of martyrdom: the feast of St. Stephen, Dec. 26, and the feast of the Holy Innocents, Dec. 28.

As the Book of Acts recounts, St. Stephen was a deacon who was the first martyr after the resurrection of Jesus. He was killed for preaching Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. One of the witnesses of his death was a man named Saul, the future St. Paul.

The Holy Innocents, too, are considered martyrs. They died in place of Jesus when Herod sought to kill all boys under 2 years old.

On Dec. 27 the Church marks the feast of St. John the Apostle, Jesus’ “beloved disciple.” John was a great evangelist and credited with authoring the Gospel of John and three letters of the New Testament. Many credit him with authoring the Book of Revelation.

The feast of the Holy Family continues the story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with the flight into Egypt. It usually falls on the Sunday after Christmas.

The solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, looks to the role of Mary in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. She is the “Theotokos,” literally the God-bearer. She does not simply carry Jesus’ human nature, nor is she a vessel for his divinity alone. Because Jesus’ divine and human natures are united, she is truly the Mother of God.

The Christmas octave is when so many people have time to rest from a busy year and to spend time with family. One fitting way to observe the octave is to attend daily Mass and prayerfully reflect on the Mass readings.

This story was first published on Dec. 25, 2022, and has been updated.

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) The Incarnation of the God-man, Jesus Christ, bridges the gap between God and man in a simple way - born as a baby.

Merry Christmas! The Word has become flesh and made his dwelling among us!   Emmanuel  means "God is with us"! Let us rejoice and be glad! Let us pray for one another, our families and friends, our Church, and the entire world...

The closing of the Holy Door at Saint Mary Major took place on Christmas Day, with the Cardinal Archpriest of the papal basilica inviting the faithful to remain open to hearing the Word, welcoming the other, and forgiveness.

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Vatican City, Dec 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

In his first Christmas “urbi et orbi” message as pope, Leo XIV urged the world to embrace “responsibility” as the sure way to peace while pointing in particular to the suffering of people in Gaza, Yemen, and those fleeing war and poverty as refugees and migrants.

Before an estimated 26,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 25, the pope appeared at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver the traditional Christmas blessing “to the city and to the world,” eight months after his May 8 election.

In one of the most evocative passages of the message, the pope cited at length from “Wildpeace,” a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, contrasting “the peace of a ceasefire” with a deeper peace that arrives unexpectedly — “like wildflowers” — after exhaustion and conflict.

“Responsibility is the sure way to peace,” Leo said. “If all of us, at every level, would stop accusing others and instead acknowledge our own faults, asking God for forgiveness, and if we would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change.”

The pope framed his appeal around the Christian proclamation that Christ “is our peace,” adding: “Without a heart freed from sin, a heart that has been forgiven, we cannot be men and women of peace or builders of peace.”

Turning to concrete “faces” of contemporary pain, Leo said that in becoming man, Jesus “took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent.”

He also named those who have lost jobs, underpaid workers who are exploited, and prisoners “who often live in inhumane conditions.”

Leo offered “a warm and fatherly greeting” to Christians, “especially those living in the Middle East,” recalling his recent trip to Turkey and Lebanon. “I listened to them as they expressed their fears and know well their sense of powerlessness before the power dynamics that overwhelm them,” he said.

“From God let us ask for justice, peace, and stability for Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Syria,” the pope continued as he invoked Scripture on righteousness and peace.

He also prayed “in a particular way for the tormented people of Ukraine,” asking that “the clamor of weapons cease” and that the parties involved — “with the support and commitment of the international community” — find “the courage to engage in sincere, direct, and respectful dialogue.”

In a wider survey of global crises, the pope said: “From the Child of Bethlehem, we implore peace and consolation for the victims of all current wars in the world, especially those that are forgotten, and for those who suffer due to injustice, political instability, religious persecution, and terrorism,” naming Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He prayed as well for Haiti, asking that “all forms of violence in the country will cease,” and called for a future of reconciliation for Myanmar.

Leo also included a specific appeal for Latin America, asking that “the child Jesus inspire those in Latin America who hold political responsibilities” so that amid the region’s challenges, “space may be given to dialogue for the common good rather than to ideological and partisan prejudices.”

He concluded by urging the faithful to open their hearts to those in need: “On this holy day, let us open our hearts to our brothers and sisters who are in need or in pain,” before offering “heartfelt good wishes for a peaceful and holy Christmas!”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.