Once again Africa is reeling from a hunger crisis and appealing for humanitarian aid. And once again the world’s sated nations have a moral duty to generously respond.

Around the globe, a worldwide addiction to illicit drugs is fueling violence, human trafficking, a proliferation of guns, organized crime and terrorism, the Vatican has said.

VATICAN CITY - Five years after the war in Syria began, there is a "feeling of helplessness in front of an endless human tragedy," a Vatican official told the UN Human Rights Council.

Churches and mosques have been centres of “searing” human rights abuses in South Sudan, where a civil war has been raging since 2013, according to a United Nations report.

OTTAWA - Pro-life groups charge that the federal government intends to resume funding for overseas abortions as part of its international child and maternal health program.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis praised the "generous service" of the former secretary-general of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and offered his condolences and prayers in the wake of his death.

As the worst Ethiopian drought in 60 years threatens as many as 20 million people living in more than half of Africa’s second largest country, Catholic aid agencies in the desperate nation are asking for help as the crisis continues into 2016.

UNITED NATIONS - Fifty years after its promulgation, the Catholic Church retains a solid and irrevocable commitment to the Second Vatican Council's declaration on its relations with non-Christian religions.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis endorsed a recent UN resolution on peace in Syria and expressed "deep appreciation" to the international community for reaching an agreement.

PARIS - Faith-based groups presented French President Francois Hollande with 1.8 million signatures of people seeking a fair climate change agreement that would stop global warming and protect the poor, reported religious groups in Paris for the U.N. climate change conference.

PARIS - Thandiwe Chidararume, who farms sweet potato, nuts and corn in Zimbabwe, traveled nearly 5,000 miles to be in Paris for the U.N. climate change conference. She wanted to tell negotiators there of the problems she and thousands of other Zimbabwean farmers face due to adverse weather conditions.

PARIS - Major hurdles stand in the way of a global accord on climate change, including over the questions of human rights and who pays the costs for poor countries to transition into using greener energy, said Catholic and other Church activists on the sidelines of the UN climate conference.

VATICAN CITY - Heads of states at the U.N. climate change conference in Paris must do everything possible to mitigate the effects of both climate change and poverty "for the good of our common home," Pope Francis said.

CAIRO - Africa is among the world's regions most in need of a "just and clear" global accord to combat climate change, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told the UN climate conference in Paris.

WASHINGTON - Catholic organizations advocating to protect the world and its people from the impact of climate change said the terror attacks in Paris will not dissuade them from attending the UN summit on climate change to be held there Nov. 30-Dec. 11.