Arts & Culture

One hundred years after the catastrophic Halifax Explosion, the tombstone in the west end of Halifax is a stark reminder of the 2,000 people killed and 9,000 more injured.

Maria Pollia, a theology teacher at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, did not have to rack her brain to remember her former student Meghan Markle, the actress recently engaged to Prince Harry.

t’s good to have new biographical works of two women saints: St. Clare of Assisi and St. Therese of Lisieux. Both are famous saints to Catholics, but there is limited knowledge of them outside the church. These publications may correct that.

Scientists who helped restore a shrine above the site believed to be the place where Christ was buried say testing of samples has dated the tomb to at least the fourth century.

When the news broke Nov. 27 of Meghan Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry, reporters descended upon the Los Angeles Catholic school Markle attended: Immaculate Heart High School and Middle School.

The charming fact-based historical drama, “The Man Who Invented Christmas” (Bleecker Street), involves no denial of the Nativity but tells the origin story of Victorian author Charles Dickens’ beloved 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol.”

Writer-director Dan Gilroy’s drama “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” (Columbia) is a generally intriguing character study pitting idealism against the hard realities of contemporary life and the allure of wealth and comfort.

This remarkable book, “The Persecution and Genocide of Christians in the Middle East: Prevention, Prohibition & Prosecution,” should be read by all Catholics, indeed all Christians who care about the fate of Christianity in the lands of its origin, the Middle East and North Africa.