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A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Pope Francis will meet with the families of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas at his next Wednesday general audience, and he will also meet separately with a group of Palestinians with relatives suffering in Gaza. Pope Francis has frequently prayed for peace in the Holy Land in his public audiences since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last month. He has also repeatedly called for the hostages being held by Hamas to be freed and for the protection and humanitarian support of civilians in Gaza. About 240 people are being held hostage by Hamas, according to the United Nations. Four hostages have been released so far and another was freed by Israeli forces in October.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256054/pope-francis-to-meet-with-families-of-israeli-hostages-and-palestinians-with-relatives-in-gaza

During the night of November 14–15, unidentified persons destroyed the altar and stole sacred vessels from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the Archdiocese of Rouen, France. According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the prosecutor’s office confirmed that the Sacré-Coeur basilica was vandalized and that the unidentified persons also smashed a statue, although the Blessed Sacrament was not stolen. The authorities have not yet identified the vandals, but local police have already launched an investigation to find them.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256049/altar-vandalized-sacred-vessels-stolen-from-sacred-heart-basilica-in-france

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Bernward, who served as the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim, Germany during the middle of the tenth century. A man of extraordinary piety, he was deeply devoted to prayer as well as the practice of mortification, and his knowledge and practice of the arts were employed generously in the service of the Church.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-bernward-59