The dominant news story for theCatholic press in any year of apapal election is the conclave itself.Except this past year, when it wasthe cause of the conclave, namelythe utterly unprecedented papalabdication of Benedict XVI. Therehad never been a freely chosenresignation by a pope whose legitimateelection was not in dispute.Yet the abdication and conclave asthe Catholic news story of the yearwas soon overtaken by fascinationwith the new Pope, particularly hisrhetorical style.

In its Christmas editorial, The Catholic Register reminded readers of their double reason to be joyful in 2013. For the first time in Church history, the editorial pointed out, Catholics are able to pray for not one but two legitimate popes as Christ is yet again renewed in our hearts. It’s certainly a surprising bounty worth reflecting on as the year ends. Even more, it is a gift to carry joyfully through 2014 and well beyond.

It is splendid indeed that Time magazine made Pope Francis its “Person of the Year” for 2013. The Pope has captured the imagination of the world and has breathed new life into the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis was pretty much a consensus pick as person of the year in both the religious and secular press. From Time magazine to, of course, The Catholic Register, the feeling seems universal that no other leader, religious or otherwise, could match the 2013 world impact of the joyful new Pope from Argentina.

After years of negative news about the Church, Francis repositioned the discussion to focus on humankind’s potential as a loving, generous, merciful community. He shared a vision of charity and hope while delivering a message that was consistently positive and upbeat, upbraiding “sourpusses” and celebrating the Church as a “house of joy.”

As people contemplate new beginnings for 2014, they should reflect on the wisdom of Pope Francis.

Here is a small sampling of his comments, delivered over the past nine months in homilies, writings and interviews, that The Register found poignant as we bid adieu to the old year and usher in the new.

• “A Church without charity doesn’t exist.”
• “I see the Church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”
• “You can, you must, try to seek God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow.”
• “Money has to serve, not to rule.”
• “Christians who are afraid to build bridges and prefer to build walls are Christians who are not sure of their faith, not sure of Jesus Christ.”
• “Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the Pope, too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the cross.”
• “The Church is not a refuge for sad people.
• The Church is a house of joy.”
• “An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!”
• “Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking for forgiveness, because He never tires of forgiving.”
• “When Christians forget about hope and tenderness they become a cold Church that loses its sense of direction.”
• “An example I often use to illustrate the reality of vanity is this: look at the peacock — it’s beautiful if you look at it from the front, but if you look at it from behind you discover the truth.”
•  “There is no such thing as innocent gossip.”

Pope Francis was unquestionably the 2013 person of the year. Now the challenge for us, as we set New Year’s resolutions, is to make 2014 better because of him.

Like many families, for years the Brehl Christmas centred on dad and mom corralling as many of the seven kids as possible and going to Midnight Mass at Holy Cross Church in East York.

KINGSTON, ONT. - On Thursday evenings, we have a Mass and dinner for our students at Newman House, which is just across the street from the Queen’s University campus. At the end of the semester our evening Mass coincided with the Queen’s Bands practising on nearby Tindall Field. At least that is what we surmised as my homily was delivered with background music, recognizable as the repertoire of the marching band.

Catholics have more to celebrate than usual this Christmas. For the first time in Church history the birth of Jesus will be celebrated by two legitimate popes. Yes, it has been quite a year.

I just can’t do it in my own. We vain humans have such difficulty admitting that.

The death of Nelson Mandela has produced the most extravagant laudations, and his funeral rites have attracted a parade of the great and the good not seen since the funeral of Pope John Paul II, and which will not be seen again until the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. I made my own modest contribution in the National Post, praising Mandela for the virtue of magnanimity, that large-heartedness which enabled him to renounce vengeance first, and political power later.

Anyone sifting around for Advent reading might consider the just-out apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis to lay alongside a strange and beautiful new book bearing Flannery O’Connor’s name.

Reading Evangelii Gaudium alternately with O’Connor’s prayer journal creates the sense of listening to a yearning yet joyful dialogue between two immensely gifted writers whose very habit of being is illumination of the Catholic soul.

It is not habitual — perhaps even unheard of — to praise a pontiff for his literary prowess. The job generally places far heavier emphasis on other gifts, talents and skills. Wherever he ranks in the pantheon of pontifical pens, however, there can be no doubt that Francis is the first to use the noun “sourpuss” in an apostolic document. More, he positions the word perfectly in his sentence to make it clear that it is us that he is concerned about.