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News/International

Fadi Hazboun, 20, takes a selfie of with his Catholic family from Nazareth in front of the Christmas tree in Manger Square outside the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Dec. 21. Pictured with him are his father, Afif, mother, Nardin, and his 8- year-old brother, Jowan.

For Arab Christians, getting to Bethlehem involves checks, imbalances

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BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Coming to Bethlehem during Christmas is like a family reunion for Afif Hazboun.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota kisses the Heisman Trophy during a Dec. 13 news conference at the New York Marriott Marquis after he was named the recipient of the trophy. Mariota is not Catholic but he regularly attends team Masses and graduated from an all-boys Catholic high school in Honolulu.

2014 Heisman Trophy winner says everything he does is for God's 'glory'

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PORTLAND, Ore. - The winner of college football's 2014 Heisman Trophy attended Hawaii's only all-boys Catholic high school, the successor to the school St. Damien of Molokai briefly attended in preparation for his ordination in Honolulu.

olice officers stand solemnly by a makeshift memorial solemn during a late night vigil Dec. 22 at the site where two police officers were shot in the head in the Brooklyn borough of New York. An armed man walked up to two New York Police Department offi cers sitting inside a patrol car and opened fire Dec. 20, shooting both of them fatally before running into a nearby subway station and committing suicide, police said.

Fatal shooting of New York police officers called 'brutal, irrational'

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NEW YORK - New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan joined in mourning what he called the "brutal and irrational execution of two young, promising and devoted police officers" fatally shot Dec. 20 as they sat in their New York Police Department cruiser on a Brooklyn street.

Downstairs from the living quarters, a traditional Palestinian house - like the one where Jesus was likely born - was a "manger" where animals would be gathered at night. When the angel tells the shepherds, "This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12) the shepherds would have gone looking for a room like this.

Away in a real manger

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At some point, this Christmas season most people will almost certainly receive a Christmas card, or e-card, depicting a plump, blue-eyed baby Jesus lying in an impoverished crib lined with hay and surrounded by friendly farm animals. There might be a barn in the background, beneath an enormous star and framed by pine trees with snow bending the branches. If it's the thought that counts, somebody hasn't thought this through.

A woman prays with others in the rain outside Myongdong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, as Pope Francis celebrates a Mass for peace and for the reconciliation of North and South Korea inside Aug. 18. Many Catholic and non-Catholics braved the pouring ra in to try to get a glimpse of the pontiff at his last Mass before leaving South Korea.

At Christmas, Korean cardinal prays for reunification, ferry victims

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SEOUL, South Korea - A South Korean cardinal prayed for reunification with the North so that, "through trust and reconciliation, may we become one big family again."

Israeli police officers carry the flag-draped coffin of Officer Zidan Nahad Seif in the northern village of Yanuh-Jat Nov. 19. Seif, a Druze, was wounded Nov. 18 while trying to stop a synagogue attack by two Palestinians armed with a meat cleaver and a gun. Four Israeli Jews with dual citizenship were killed in the attack. Latin Patriarch denounces violence in his Christmas message.

In Christmas message, Jerusalem patriarch criticizes all violence

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JERUSALEM - Ending a year that saw the papal visit, a war in Gaza and a resumption of violence in Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal's Christmas message condemned all instances of violence.

A Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 15.

Tree, creche inspire all, even nonbelievers, to love, share, says Pope

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VATICAN CITY - God did not come to the world with arrogance to impose His might; He offered His powerful love through a fragile child, Pope Francis said.

A man lights a candle in a temporary Ukrainian Catholic tent church in 2013 during anti-government protests in Kiev. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych and other Ukrainian Catholic leaders have warned their church is being driven underground a gain, a quarter-century after it was re-legalized with the end of communist rule.

In eastern Ukraine, church has 'returned to catacombs,' spokesman says

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WARSAW, Poland - Ukrainian Catholic leaders have warned their Church is being driven underground again, a quarter-century after it was re-legalized with the end of communist rule.

A car drives past the building of the the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba, the U.S. Interests Section, in Havana, in this 2013 file photo. U.S. President Barack Obama announced a shift in policy toward Cuba Dec. 17.

U.S. Church leaders pleased that U.S.-Cuba will rebuild relations

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WASHINGTON - American Church officials expressed optimism about plans by the United States and Cuba to normalize diplomatic relations and work toward reshaping how the two neighbouring countries interact with each other.

Cars in Havana drive past a banner Dec. 17 featuring five Cuban prisoners held in U.S. custody; two were previously released. U.S. President Barack Obama announced a shift in policy toward Cuba Dec. 17.

Pope Francis credited for urging U.S., Cuba to normalize relations

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WASHINGTON - Pope Francis personally appealed to President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro this year to encourage both leaders to normalize diplomatic relations, a senior Obama administration official said.

Lorette Kassis watches her daughter Lordes, 10, light candles near a painting of St. Nicholas in a church named after the saint in Beit Jalla, West Bank, Dec. 14. In Beit Jalla, which is about 65 percent Christian, St. Nicholas day is celebrated with t he Greek Orthodox Dec. 19.

West Bank town takes pride in links to St. Nicholas, celebrates Dec. 19

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BEIT JALLA, West Bank - Bethlehem might have the Church of the Nativity, but residents of this largely Christian town adjacent to Bethlehem say they have St. Nicholas.

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