AMMAN, Jordan -- Catholics and other Christians are upset by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's conversion of Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, into a functioning mosque where Muslim Friday prayers were recited recently.

VATICAN CITY -- At a time when conflict and division dominate the world's headlines, people need to know there are a growing number of important initiatives to promote interreligious dialogue and understanding, Pope Francis said.

OTTAWA —The horrific murder of 50 Muslims at prayer at two New Zealand mosques March 15 hit close to home because of a similar attack in 2017 on Muslims at prayer at a Quebec City mosque.

OTTAWA – An increase in Muslims converting to Christianity has prompted a crackdown by Iran’s theocratic government, says Kiaa Aalipour a representative of Article18, a London-based NGO supporting persecuted Christians in Iran.

VATICAN – That many religions exist in the world is a fact, but what that plurality communicates to believers about God is a question that theologians are still discussing.

After a decade of prayer, diplomacy and legal wrangling, a persecuted Christian farmhand and her family is about to start a new life in Canada.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld its acquittal of a Pakistani Catholic woman sentenced to hang for blasphemy.

AMMAN, Jordan – Growing numbers of Christians in North America and Europe are joining Christians in Syria's northeast in expressing concern for the future of religious minorities and Kurds in that region should the U.S. give Turkey the "green light" to take over the fight against Islamic State.

STRASBOURG, France – At noon Dec. 12, the bells of every Catholic church in Strasbourg rang for 10 minutes to honor the victims of a terror attack at a Christmas market the previous day.

VATICAN – Pope Francis will visit the United Arab Emirates next year, becoming the first Pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the Vatican announced.

LONDON – The threat to religious freedom from Muslim fundamentalists is rapidly becoming a global phenomenon following the military defeat of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said a new report.

ROME – A delegation of Canadian Muslims experienced a dream come true Oct. 24 when they met Pope Francis after his weekly Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square.

SYDNEY – Asia Bibi has been released from death row and prison in Pakistan and is now under heavy protective guard in a secret location with her family, reported a longtime Catholic missionary involved with negotiations in Pakistan about her case.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan's Supreme Court has set aside the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Catholic convicted of blasphemy, and ordered her release from prison.

Development and Peace has received an additional $500,000 from Global Affairs Canada to spend between now and Christmas to keep Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh safe, warm and dry.