How many Americans are Christian? Can you question the Virgin Birth and still be a Christian? Do Christians over-emphasize the birth of Jesus? Can Santa make it to every house in one night? And why Driscoll again, so soon?

One of the police officers shot in Brooklyn was in a volunteer chaplain program. The stained-glass window industry isn’t doing so great. And Jesus’ birthplace is facing some modern-day struggles.

After Pope Francis’ stunning rebuke of the Vatican bureaucracy, the curia may down an extra eggnog today. One of the cops murdered in Brooklyn this weekend thought he might want to serve the NYPD in a more spiritual way. And Snaketivity at the Michigan Capitol.

America’s most famous Catholic bids his audience adieu. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Pope Francis. Sarah Silverman gives feminist Jewish activists a thumbs up.

(RNS) So you have absolutely no idea what presents to get for Pope Francis, Jeb Bush and that guy with the John 3:16 signs? Never fear. The Roundup Gift Guide will leave you merry and bright.

Alan Gross is out. Germany’s Catholic bishops may allow gay church employees. J.K. Rowling’s Jewish (but not Wiccan) characters. Last Dalai Lama? First female (CofE) bishop.

The Vatican releases its report on U.S. nuns. The Taliban kill more than 100 Pakistani school children. And tonight is the first night of Hanukkah.

Pope Francis argues for pups in heaven. Congressional staffers raise their hands outside the Capitol. Plus, Kansas is now issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses.

The bastion of Christian fundamentalism confesses its sins on sex assault on campus. Pope Francis to name more Cardinals — but who? And a sneak peek at the newest Jesus film.

(RNS) It’s slightly truncated today, but the Roundup still has all the news you need …

An Israeli man is stabbed in a Brooklyn synagogue by an apparently anti-Semitic suspect, who is shot and killed by police. What is the role of the black church post-Ferguson? And meet Argentina’s outlaw saints.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI says he would have liked to be known as “Father Benedict.” Atheists want to repeal state bans forbidding nonbelievers from holding office. Obama appears tonight on the Colbert Report.