The Vatican newspaper warned that “over two million people across the [Gaza] Strip are now at risk not only of starvation but also of freezing.”

Debates over the filioque clause and papal infallibility “can be resolved in such a way that they no longer represent an obstacle” to union with the Orthodox churches, the German cardinal said, in an interview with Die Tagespost.

Cardinal Koch said that in pursuing ecumenical efforts, it is crucial to ask: “What unity do we actually want?” He said that some Protestant denominations hope for an accord in which all Christian communities recognize each other. “This,” he said, “is a completely different idea, which is incompatible with the Catholic view.”

In a new survey 53% of Catholics said that they supported IVF, while only 19% opposed it. But when respondents were informed that the Catholic Church rejects the procedure—because it separates procreation from the marital act and because unused embryos are destroyed—support dropped significantly, to 45%, while opposition jumped to 24%.

Lai, an influential publisher and convert to Catholicism, has been jailed for five years on charges widely recognized as spurious. While US President Trump has vowed to press for Lai’s release, reporters began lining up on December 12 for a place in the courtroom where the verdict will be announced.

The Pope remarked that the noise of the world always threatens to distract believers, and said: “When, throughout life, our vision becomes clouded, like Peter’s did in the night or amid the storms, it will be the voice of Jesus that, with loving patience, sustains us.”

The survey found 54% of Catholics supporting the deportation of illegal immigrants, while 30% opposed the drive. Support for the Trump policy was strongest among white Catholic voters. Notably, however, the crackdown also drew more support (41%) than opposition (39%) among Latino voters.

On another controversial issue, a 55% majority of Catholic voters support the death penalty, again despite opposition from their bishops.

Among Catholics who attend Mass regularly, Trump enjoys solid overall support, with 67% viewing him favorably. Trump also scores well with male Catholics, winning a 62% favorable rating.

Homan stressed that the crackdown on illegal immigration is directed primarly a “public-safety threats and national security threats.” But he added that anyone who is in the US illegally is subject to arrest.

Homan, who is Catholic, said that he has not been approached by bishops who criticize the administration’s policies, but he is “willing to sit down with anybody in the Catholic Church and talk about it.”

Recognizing the importance of intelligence work to protect public safety, the Pope encouraged them to “work not only with professionalism, but also with an ethical perspective that takes into account at least two essential aspects: respect for human dignity and the ethics of communication.”

In the apostolic letter—the sixth of his pontificate—Pope Leo wrote that archaeology “reminds us that God chose to speak in a human language, to walk the earth and to inhabit places, houses, synagogues and streets.”

“By concentrating on the physical traces of faith, archaeology educates us in a theology of the senses: a theology that knows how to see, touch, smell and listen,” he said. “By examining stones, ruins and other artifacts, it teaches us that nothing touched by faith is insignificant ... In this sense, archaeology is also a school of humility.”

The message “changed the history of Europe,” Pope Leo told Polish-speaking pilgrims. “May the words of that document—‘We forgive and ask forgiveness’—be for the peoples in conflict today a testimony that reconciliation and forgiveness are possible when they are born of a mutual desire for peace and a common commitment, in truth, for the good of humanity.”

The Vatican omitted Pope Leo’s words from its English translation of his remarks.

On December 9, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, marked the anniversary in an Italian-language address at Pontifical Gregorian University.