Francis has made concern for migrants a centerpiece of his papacy, and on Jan. 11 in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See he again urged governments to “overcome the inevitable fears associated with this massive and formidable phenomenon.”

"Thank God that someone finally has the courage to close the loopholes in our pitiful gun control laws to reduce the number of mass shootings, suicides and killings that have become a plague in our country," said Bishop Kevin J. Farrell of Dallas in a Jan. 5 entry titled "The Cowboy Mentality" on his blog.

“We are especially disturbed by reports of immigration officials forcibly entering residences in Georgia and Texas over the last several days to conduct invasive searches and round ups of Central American asylum seekers, including children as young as four,” the statement said.

"Have these tragic events provoked some genuine awakening, and have we offered perspectives for the society of tomorrow by learning lessons from the past?" asked a Jan. 6 statement from the French bishops' conference.

There are no formal refugee camps in Lebanon. Rather, some Syrians establish informal tent settlements. Others find ways to rent space in apartments or squat in abandoned buildings. As of November, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees calculated there were nearly 1.1 million registered refugees living in Lebanon.

"It is absurd to force a pharmacy to sell drugs against their conscience when there are over 30 pharmacies within five miles that already sell the exact same drugs," said a Jan. 4 statement by  Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the pharmacists. "This law does nothing but punish people of faith."