Seasons Greetings, dotCommonweal readers. We've posted to the website two new stories, and our annual Christmas Critics page.

In brief: Robert Mickens writes in his latest letter from Rome about Vatican translators editing English pieties into the pope's speeches, Francis's twelve big plans for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the ongoing "Vatileaks II" trial of five people connected to the leaking and publication of confidential Vatican documents; the editors weigh Catholic House Speaker Paul Ryan's response to the plight of Syrian refugees against Catholic social teaching and common logic; and, our 2015 Christmas Critics guide to gift-worthy books covers everything from a dictionary of (very long) German words invented to describe the human condition to Pope Francis's homilies and new translations of Julian of Norwich. Contributors this year include James Martin, Cassandra Nelson, Ingrid Rowland, and Michael Peppard.