Holding leaders accountable for negligence is "critical to the whole picture," said a commission member.

It's important to consider the benefits of organized religion, the study said, when the U.S. seems to increasingly step closer to a more secularized society.

"We must promote the common good everywhere, so that people in all nations can live a life where their human dignity is protected."

The agreement concludes many months of negotiations that involved a delicate calculation by Israel about whether to strike a deal with the outgoing U.S. president.

Pastors who seek personal gain are not upholding their duty, Pope Francis said.

The campaign, by Catholics for Choice, "disregards the need to defend vulnerable human life in all its stages—a principle at the core of authentic social justice."