CARTAGENA, Colombia – An agreement to end Latin America's last armed conflict is the start of a process of positive change for Colombia, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said hours before the government and Marxist rebels were set to sign peace accords Sept. 26.

NEW YORK – The campaign of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced Sept. 22 that it has formed a group of Catholic leaders to advise him "on those issues and policies important to Catholics and other people of faith in America."

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – One day after a knife-wielding man injured nine people at a shopping mall near St. Cloud, Bishop Donald J. Kettler called for prayers for those impacted by the violence.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In his 50 years of voting in U.S. elections, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said he has never seen the two major parties offer "two such deeply flawed" presidential nominees "at the same time."

MANILA, Philippines – The head of the Philippine bishops' conference set "ethical guidelines" against proposals to reinstate the death penalty as the country's war on drugs continues, with body counts increasing daily.

WASHINGTON – Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore sharply criticized comments made by Martin Castro, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that the phrases "religious liberty" and "religious freedom" were "code words" used to discriminate.

BONN, Germany – As Europeans planned weekend street protests against a controversial trade treaty with the United States, a European Church leader said intergovernmental agreements were worthwhile when they reflected ethical standards.

AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan's King Abdullah II told a visiting delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches that his country has become a model for coexistence, fraternity and moderation in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops objected to a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposal to authorize federally funded research on part-human, part-animal embryos in comments submitted to the agency Sept. 2.

VATICAN CITY – With a large tapestry bearing the portrait of the woman known as the "Saint of the Gutters" suspended above him, Pope Francis proclaimed the sainthood of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, hailing her courage and love for the poor.