"Only God knows what their abductors might have done to them, where they would be by now."

Canadian bishops said the bill was "an affront to human dignity, an erosion of human solidarity and a danger to all vulnerable persons."

"The pope wants to fix the social injustices in society and I am completely with him on that," Sanders told Italian media.

Sanders arrived in Rome hours after Thursday night's Brooklyn debate, saying the opportunity to address the Vatican conference was too meaningful to pass up.

An emotional Spence said this afternoon that critics went after him "full-court on the blogoshere” over the past few days.

It has been a devastating blow to Catholic school teachers who had counted on those pensions to supplement the Social Security checks they'll be getting.