CARTAGENA, Colombia – Pope Francis said he had no magic words or special recipes for Colombians seeking peace, but rather he wanted to listen to them, learn from them and travel a bit of the road with them.

At an ecumenical prayer service for peace in the Middle East, Cardinal Thomas Collins made his most direct appeal yet for the Canadian government to pay special attention to Christian refugees as it distributes aid in the region and accepts refugees for resettlement.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - Pope Francis capped a five-day trip to Colombia with a call for culture change in a country attempting to pursue a path of peace and reconciliation after decades of armed conflict and centuries of social exclusion.

BOGOTA, Colombia - Pope Francis urged Colombians to put aside prejudice and pursue peace through social inclusion, fighting inequality and paying attention to the plight of the country's most marginalized populations, such as campesinos, Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples.

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenyan Catholic bishops have urged the citizens to prepare to vote peacefully in the Aug. 8 general elections.

VATICAN CITY – Peace and an end to violent conflicts around the world should be placed above any national interests when it comes to the relationship between Western countries and Russia, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church in Colombia not only has taken an active role in peace negotiations between the government and guerrilla groups, but also has remained close with countless innocents caught in the crossfire, said the Colombian bishops' representative to the National Council for Peace.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Catholic bishops in Sierra Leone called on citizens to refrain from actions to destabilize the West African nation and to come together before next year's elections in the same spirit that helped end the country's civil war and overcome its Ebola epidemic.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Religious leaders, not secularists, are often in the best position to persuade violent religious extremists towards peace, the papal nuncio to the United Nations has said in response to an effort to prevent atrocities.

SEOUL, South Korea – The president of the Korean bishops' conference has welcomed President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative, saying it matches the church's views on how peace can be achieved on the peninsula.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Catholic bishops appealed for a "return to normalcy and peace ... as soon as possible," as violence continues in the southern part of the country.

VATICAN CITY – Celebrating a Mass in his native El Salvador, newly created Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez said his first major assignment will be to travel to South Korea for a meeting on how to achieve peace with North Korea.

RUMBEK, South Sudan – In a country wracked by civil war and ethnic strife, Irish nuns have created a unique space where young women can dream of a better future and begin to acquire the skills that will help them construct it.

JUBA, South Sudan – The news that Pope Francis will not be able to visit South Sudan this year prompted the nation's bishops to voice reassurances that a future visit is possible, and ask for a renewed commitment to peace.

SEOUL, South Korea – A peace treaty is needed to replace the 64-year truce between North Korea and South Korea, ending a situation where the two countries remain technically at war, speakers at a symposium organized by the South Korean bishops said.