"The Catholic community of east Tennessee continues to pray for those who have been affected by the terrible wildfires in Gatlinburg and other communities across the region," Bishop Richard F. Stika said.

The pope said there was a "weak response" in most international policies to promoting the common good.

The Paris Agreement to combat climate change went into effect on Nov. 4, a landmark deal to tackle global warming amid growing fears that the world is becoming warmer even faster than scientists expected.

Pope Francis praised the 100 countries that joined the Paris climate agreement but emphasized that implementing it must involve multidisciplinary cooperation and special measures of solidarity with the poor.

Americans might be forgiven if they thought they had put the great pipeline wars behind them with the abandonment of the giant Keystone XL.

Researchers say deforestation, pollution, overfishing and the illegal wildlife trade, together with climate change, “are pushing species populations to the edge.”