(RNS) A new Catholic translation of the Bible tweaks an Old Testament text -- Isaiah 7:14 -- that many Christians consider a prophecy about Jesus’ birth. So, why did they alter a 2,745-year-old prophecy, and does it change what the church teaches about Jesus’ virgin birth? By Daniel Burke.

(RNS) At its heartwarming core, Christmas is the story of a tender relationship between a new mother and her newborn child. Yet all the familiar images associated with the holy family are missing one obvious element: a breast-feeding infant. And therein lies a tale. By David Gibson.

(RNS) The traditional Christmas image of the Virgin Mary -- silent, obedient, observant -- has cemented a potent ideal in the Western imagination. Now the masterful Irish writer Colm Toibin puts a jackhammer to the cozy, safe, Christmas-card version in "The Testament of Mary.'' By Karen Long.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Could a Virgin Mary statue under a pine tree in the middle of a cow pasture in rural Alabama one day become an officially recognized international pilgrimage site of the Roman Catholic Church? By Greg Garrison.

STERRETT, Ala. (RNS)  Marija Lunetti, one of six young peasants who claimed that the Virgin Mary began appearing to them in 1981 in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, says the mother of Jesus is aware of the economic crisis in Europe. By Greg Garrison. About 650.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican has published the rules used to judge alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary as more and more sightings gather widespread publicity before the church has been able to judge them. By Alessandro Speciale.