Morning Catholic must-reads: 22/12/14

Jesus often sends us angels but “we are so caught up in our thoughts and concerns we do not even notice”, Pope Francis said at yesterday’s Angelus (full text, full video).

This year “our beloved holy city of Jerusalem has been flowing with blood and tears”, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal has said in a Christmas message.

The Vatican and Lutherans will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 with “common liturgical material”, in a move hailed as a “epoch-making turning point”.

The Pope has named Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran as Camerlengo, replacing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,

George Weigel explains why the family synod saw an “outbreak of very un-Roman behaviour”.

Matt Sedensky talks to Cuban-Americans appalled by Francis’s role in the breakthrough in relations between Washington and Havana.

And Rocco Palmo previews the Pope’s Christmas schedule.

Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.