The custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, lights the first candle of the Advent wreath at the site of the manger inside the Nativity Grotto on Nov. 30, 2024, during the first vespers of ...

Around the world, trail designers are quietly employing surprising techniques to engineer awe. You’ve probably felt it without even knowing why. Inside the creative science that’s transforming your ...

Dominica fully lives up to its self-appointed nickname as the "Caribbean’s Nature Island." In a region that brims with pristine beaches requiring nothing more but to show up and relax, Dominica ...

Decades ago, India’s tigers were on the brink of extinction. Slowly, their numbers have rebounded. But that ecological success has prompted a dire problem—and a race to save many of them from genetic ...

In all the papal basilicas, the official document of closing the Holy Door has been deposited along with the key to the door and several pontifical medals from the last sealing. The pope closed the ...

These 10 standout images were among thousands of stunning submissions in National Geographic’s Your Shot Pictures of the Year 2025 challenge. The delicate West Indian seagrape sawfly (Sericoceros ...

Gum makers have claimed, for decades, chewing is good for your mental health. They’re kind of on to something. Humans have chewed on gum for millennia. Scientists are still trying to figure out why.

A natural experiment in a national park in Patagonia shows how the return of a large predator can reshape an ecosystem. Long absent from Argentinian Patagonia due to over-hunting, pumas have returned ...

Although traditionally a jubilee only happens every 25 years, the Holy Door is slated to reopen for a special 2033 Jubilee when the Church will celebrate the Holy Year of the Redemption. The Edicule ...

As Pope Leo XIV closed the Holy Door today in Rome that was opened by the late Pope Francis last year, stories are being told of the many graces that pilgrims experienced, traversing the path that ...

With 800 years of maritime history, this northern town is going all in on its seafaring past in 2026 with revamped museums, docks, and preserved ships. See why its laid-back charm is so hard to resist ...

The Jubilee of Hope will conclude when Pope Leo closes the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6. Now is an opportunity for us to begin to assess its notable successes and missed opportunities.