The pope led pilgrims in praying a Hail Mary for the victims of the attacks at St. Philip's Catholic Church in Ozubulu, Nigeria and at a mission in Gambo, Central African Republic.

In the weeks before Kenya's election on Aug. 8, ethnic tensions ran high, prompting religious leaders—Christian and Muslim—to preach for peace.

The Vatican urged Maduro "to suspend ongoing initiatives such as the new Constituent Assembly, which, rather than fostering reconciliation and peace, encourages a climate of tension and confrontation and mortgages the future."

Overshadowed in his lifetime, Pope Benedict provided lessons for the world’s peoples and policymakers, then and now.

Electoral authorities said more than 8 million people voted Sunday to create a constitutional assembly endowing President Nicolas Maduro's ruling party with virtually unlimited powers—a figure widely disputed by independent analysts.