Pope Francis opened the “Holy Door” of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, launching the Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations expected to attract over 30 million pilgrims to Rome. The 88-year-old pontiff, pushed in a wheelchair due to a recent cold, knocked on the ornate bronze door before it opened, followed by a procession through the door as the Vatican basilica’s bells rang out. Over the next year, pilgrims will receive forgiveness for their sins by passing through the door, with the Jubilee focused on reflection, penance, and hope, including addressing issues such as war, profiteering, and unfair debts.
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Scary ghost stories … for Christmas? There’s a long tradition
In the midst of holiday chaos and exhaustion, a long-standing tradition of telling scary stories during Christmas is explored, dating back to Victorian England and beyond. This tradition of intertwining frightful tales with winter celebrations has deep roots, with recent events like a Victorian ghost story performance at a Chicago museum tapping into the appetite for eerie Christmas narratives. The idea of horror and fear during the holidays is not a modern concept, but rather...
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