VANCOUVER – A Vancouver church has acknowledged the rich First Nations heritage of its parishioners by installing an icon of St. Paul the Apostle wearing a woven cedar hat and holding a talking stick and cedar bough.

I have long been an ardent fan of Martin ScorseseöÏÓãÊÓƵapp films. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, Casino, etc. are among the defining movies of the last 40 years. The directoröÏÓãÊÓƵapp Catholicism, however mitigated and conflicted, comes through in most of his work.

NEW YORK – Behind the opening credits of "The Young Pope," a naked baby boy crawls over a sea of infant mannequins, and a man dressed as the Roman pontiff emerges at the other end.

WASHINGTON – Actor Andrew Garfield underwent the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, as part of his preparation for playing a Jesuit priest in Martin Scorsese's new film, "Silence."

Jonathan Safran Foer used to be the next big thing in American fiction. Now, at 39, he is auditioning (not yet successfully) for the part of major author.

Like E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Independence Day, and a host of similar films over the past 30 years, Arrival explores the theme of an alien visitation to Earth.

PHILADELPHIA – Jesuit Father Joseph Fitzmyer, a leading Catholic biblical scholar, died Dec. 24 at Manresa Hall, a Jesuit infirmary in Philadelphia. He was 96.

NEW YORK – Directed and co-written (with Jay Cocks) by Martin Scorsese, Silence (Paramount) is a dramatically powerful but theologically complex work best suited to viewers who come to the multiplex prepared to engage with serious issues.

VATICAN CITY – One of the jewels in the Vatican Museums will reopen to the public after a $2.4 million makeover to make it earthquake resistant.

GOWER, Mo. – Tucked away off a rocky road in Gower in rural Missouri, a small community of cloistered nuns has just come out with a new Christmas album.