Using pastoral letters and circulars with exhortations on civic duty, as well as pulpit and parish bulletin announcements, the church has been informing voters on the importance of exercising their right to vote.

Christian and Muslim leaders in the Central African Republic have accused foreign states of complicity in a May 1 gun and grenade attack on a Catholic Mass.

The National Rifle Association gathering in Dallas attracted demonstrators on both sides of gun control—and an opportunity for dialogue.

Witnesses said many police were present May 8 but did nothing to stop the attack on about a dozen nuns.

Pope John Paul II described the Mafia as "a culture of death, profoundly inhuman, anti-Gospel, an enemy of human dignity and civil peace.''

Pope Francis had strongly favored the pact, which sought to integrate Iran into the global economy in exchange for remaining nuclear-free.