The Latest Breaking News from the Catholic Church

Pope Francis has proclaimed a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church, which began on Dec. 24, 2024, and will continue through Jan. 6, 2026. But what is a Jubilee, and what is this year’s about?

In January 2015, 12 people were killed at the French satirist magazine Charlie Hebdo’s office after it published controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Ten years later, the tragic events continue to resonate in global conversations about limits to the freedom of expression.

Luce, the anime-inspired official mascot for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee, whose name means “light” in Italian, has been getting a lot of attention on social media. Some people love the cartoon and find her “cute,” but a few others consider her “unsuitable” and even “repugnant.”

President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on religion is part of a broader attack on civil liberties.