The goal of the Year of Faith, which concludes Nov. 24, has been to educate Catholics about basic church teachings, strengthen their faith and inspire them to share it with others. If it has succeeded, as organizers say it has, the credit ultimately lies less with its special projects and events than with the historic papal transition that occurred in its course.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan called upon his brother bishops to champion the cause of people around the world being persecuted because of their faith even as the bishops continue to prevent what he described as infringements upon religious practice in the United States.

Crime families in Italy are not happy with Pope Francis and would hurt him if they could, said an Italian prosecutor who has spent years investigating organized crime and has written a book about the apparent Catholic devotion of mafia bosses.

Pope Francis made the first state visit of his pontificate Nov. 14, traveling two miles from Vatican City to Italy’s presidential palace, where he voiced the church’s solidarity with the nation in facing social challenges that included immigration, unemployment and the well-being of families.

The devastation brought on by Super Typhoon Haiyan is on a scale so big it is “unimaginable,” said Jesuit Father Edwin Gariguez, head of Caritas in the Philippines.

John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, told a group of Catholic journalists Nov. 7 that Catholic education should not be taken for granted.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Already. Even before Halloween jack-o-lanterns were carved, retailers were advertising the joys of Christmas gift-giving — and getting — on television. And no sooner will the Thanksgiving turkey be carved before radio stations start playing Christmas music, some of them nonstop, through Christmas Day.

With baptism, Christians are cleansed of sin, but the sacrament doesn’t wash away human weakness nor the obligation to ask forgiveness when they make mistakes, Pope Francis said.

The president of the Belgian bishops’ conference joined other faith leaders who criticized proposed legislation to extend euthanasia to children and dementia sufferers, warning the measure risks “destroying the functioning of society.”

Between errands and attending parent-teacher meetings with her children, Charito Darr was fielding phone calls from nervous Filipino-Americans — often speaking in regional Filipino dialects — seeking news of loved ones in their homeland following Super Typhoon Haiyan.