Christmas – my favourite time of the year! And one of my favourite things to do at this time of year is to watch Christmas movies with my family.

As the resulting publication of a conference with the same name hosted by the Archdiocese of Sydney from 20 to 23 May 2014, The Great Grace examines the numerous changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council to aspects of the Church such as liturgy, theology, communion, communication, and mission.

With The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2, one of the most successful cinema franchises of recent times reaches a surprisingly glum finale.

Anyone familiar with the perennial TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas will know that the Peanuts franchise, which began life as a comic strip penned by cartoonist Charles M Schulz between 1950 and 2000, has a knack for unabashed but also un-bashing spirituality.

A car chase through St Peter’s Square and a flippant joke about joining the priesthood aside, the 24th James Bond film, “Spectre” (Columbia), has predictably little to do with religion. Yet director Sam Mendes’ follow-up to “Skyfall,” his 2012 reboot of the 007 series, does set its protagonist on an upward ethical path that will please faithful grown-ups.

Sister Pauline Marcella Coll was born on 16 January 1939 in Maryborough, Queensland. She was the youngest child of John and Evelyn (née Smith) Coll. Born to older parents, Sr Coll knew and admired her parents as they aged. She described her father as a gentle, strong man, well-educated and with a strong instinct for justice, and saw her mother as an extrovert, very sensitive, and as some...

Just as the title, Believe Me, was fading from the screen, there was a momentary after-image of just three letters from Believe: LIE. It was an indication of what was to come, a story that was based on deception – until the end, when all the edifying plot developments emerged.

As the lively profile of a wildly successful uber-geek, Steve Jobs is likely to appeal to many a youthful tech fan. Parents should be aware, however, that this is a morally complex life story – the computer pioneer and Apple, Inc co-founder died in 2011 at 56 – recounted with a vocabulary that’s anything but user-friendly for younger moviegoers.

High school football players battle racism on and off the field in Woodlawn, an entertaining and inspirational film that’s appropriate for most age groups.

It did not take long for the news of Monsignor Bryan Maurice Long’s passing to reverberate throughout the many parishes in the Diocese of Sandhurst where he had served.