WASHINGTON - "Time is of the essence" to get humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine as winter sets in, a group of Ukrainian religious leaders said in a Nov. 9 appeal to U.S. President Barack Obama.

UNITED NATIONS - The information and services that space technology provides must be shared as much as possible by the countries of the world to reduce the risk that economic and social inequalities will widen, a Vatican official told the United Nations.

UNITED NATIONS - In the warm afterglow of Pope Francis’ Sept 25 address to the General Assembly, veteran United Nations’ observers drew a starkly candid road map of urgent actions that the world body must take to achieve its security agenda.

NEW YORK - Pope Francis has come to the powerful to demand limits on power. He came to open a session of the General Assembly of the United Nations Sept. 25, to speak to the world’s diplomatic elite and the powerful forces they represent on behalf of the “victims of power badly exercised.”

NEW YORK - The Pope’’s tour of the United States has the power to re-engage Catholics in a broad range of work for justice and to rediscover a broader, more Catholic perspective, Kate Bini said shortly after Pope Francis’ address to the United Nations.

On the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation on Sept. 1, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace launched its fall campaign demanding action on climate change.

VATICAN CITY - Requests for copies of Pope Francis' environmental encyclical and the demand for tickets to see him at the United Nations indicate enthusiasm and expectations for Pope Francis' visit are running high, said the Vatican representative.

TORONTO - California Governor Jerry Brown, in Toronto for the Climate Summit of the Americas, claims he is travelling with a copy of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ and “going through it carefully.”

Romeo Maione was all talk but it was glorious talk, talk that made things happen. Mr. Maione used every podium and platform he could find to make the Church real and alive in the world.

BUKAVU, Congo - Bishops from eastern Congo criticized the failure of their government and the United Nations to act against "genocide, jihadist fundamentalism and Balkanization" in the country, which is widely considered Africa's most Catholic.

YANGON, Myanmar - Cardinal Charles Bo has asked the government of Myanmar to squelch hate speech and do more to help Rohingya refugees, many of whom have fled the country and are trapped at sea as countries refuse them entry.

WASHINGTON- A month-long review of a key nuclear weapons treaty saw the nuclear powers stepping back from an opportunity to alter the status quo, much to the disappointment of Catholic peace advocates.

JUBA, South Sudan - Human rights in South Sudan are abused "on the battlefield and in peaceful areas," and much of the country is without effective governance, church leaders said.

KATHMANDU, Nepal - When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake roared through this Himalayan nation April 25, leaving an estimated 5,500 dead and more than 11,000 injured, shrines and temples were sent crashing to the ground, many of them centuries old and irreplaceable cultural treasures.

Top officials from the Vatican, the head of the United Nations and leading scientists came together at a summit Tuesday (April 28) in Vatican City to label the fight against man-made climate change as a “moral issue.”