MONTREAL - For two prominent Catholic agencies based in Canada, the new Liberal government's decision to stop air strikes against Islamic State positions in the Middle East begs the question: How should Canada act in that region?

A 15-year-old Philadelphia-area boy was arrested last month for allegedly pursuing an Islamic State-inspired plot against Pope Francis, two federal law enforcement officials said Sept. 15.

OTTAWA - One year after the Islamic State’s invasion of Iraq forced more than 120,000 Iraqi Christians to flee ancient homelands with little except their clothes, most continue to live in poverty and chaos.

VATICAN CITY - The world continues to be silent in the face of widespread persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, Pope Francis said.

JERUSALEM - Christians in the Middle East are facing difficulties ranging from "bad" to "less bad," said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem.

MANCHESTER, England - When the Islamic State overran the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh last August, one of the priests there jumped into his car and joined the exodus of Christians on the road east in the hope of reaching the safety of Kurdish-controlled territory.

BEIRUT - Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, representing Pope Francis, and Cardinal Bechara Rai, the Maronite Catholic patriarch, traveled to Irbil, Iraq, to meet with Christians who had fled from Islamic State forces.

NEW YORK - Syriac Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Moshe of Mosul, Iraq, called on the world's government to oust Islamic State militants from northern parts of the country so thousands of displaced Christians can return home.

VATICAN CITY - One of the largest churches in Mosul, Iraq, will be transformed into a mosque.

TORONTO - When the Islamic State attacked the city of Mosul in June 2014, members of Toronto’s Jesus the King Council of the Knights of Columbus knew they had to respond.

OXFORD, England - French Catholics have urged church support for a campaign to stop Western companies from buying oil from Islamic State, in effect funding the mass killing of Christians.

AMMAN, Jordan - Church bells are ringing once again in the Assyrian Christian villages dotting the Khabur River in northeastern Syria after Islamic State militants were routed by a combination of forces.

IRBIL, Iraq - The head of the Vatican's Congregation for Eastern Churches visited Iraq to convey Pope Francis' blessing and concern for Church officials and the displaced living and working in difficult circumstances.

TORONTO - In a world where the Islamic State threatens religious minorities in the Middle East, Boko Haram kidnaps Christian girls in Nigeria, Jews worldwide are forced to defend the existence of Israel, it might be said that interfaith relations are no walk in the park.

TORONTO - For Ghina Al-Sewaidi — lawyer, Muslim and Iraqi-Canadian — the correct word to describe Islamic State attacks on Yezidi and Mandaean people is genocide. The correct response is to sponsor the survivors through Canada’s refugee system.