The bishops plan to focus on "correcting serious moral problems in the current law."

Pope Benedict deplored recent attacks on Christians in Iraq, Egypt and Nigeria.

“We commend to God those who have died,” said Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S.C.C.B., “and we pray for the families who lost loved ones."

A wide array of Catholics played a major role in getting the new START agreement with Russia ratified. 

"The truth about violations of international human rights and humanitarian law ... must be publicly acknowledged," the Sri Lankan bishop of Mannar told a special government commission.

Leaders of the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt said a deadly attack against Christian worshipers was an act of political destabilization and a sign of the increasingly radical "Islamization" of the country.