At the end of last year, as Christians celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace, they faced persecution and violence. Between Christmas Eve to December 27, 38 Christians died in attacks across Nigeria. In the northern town of Maiduguri, armed men dragged a Baptist pastor out of his home and shot him.

(Part 3 of 3). From Bartolomeo and Botticelli in the 15th century to Dore, Delacroix and Chenavard in more recent times, artists have delighted to portray on canvas Dante’s Inferno. Dante vividly describes his travels with the Roman poet Virgil into the underworld.

Meatless Fridays, Latin Mass on Sunday, long confession lines on Saturday afternoons and religious in habits were once so much a part of Catholic culture everywhere. Some Catholics still observe Friday abstinence. Others attend the Latin Mass. Catholics do frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation in Advent and Lent and even on days other than Saturdays.