GENEVA, Switzerland – The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations reiterated the Vatican’s defence of all human life in a meeting with UN Human Rights Council on the death penalty.

In the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, diabetes activist Serge Langlois was trying to get life-saving insulin, syringes and other medications into the Caribbean nation.

UNITED NATIONS – Saying poverty is the greatest challenge facing humanity, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations called on nations to seek solutions to poverty not only based on economics but to also address personal, social and environmental factors that contribute to it.

A federal government decision to restore funding to a United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees is being applauded by a Catholic aid group.

OTTAWA – The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech failed to address the needs of small farmers, said a representative from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

WASHINGTON – The United Nations is preparing to embark on talks to ban nuclear weapons.

Prolonged solitary confinement of prisoners — torture according to the United Nations — has no place in a just penal system. Yet isolating inmates for lengthy periods remains common practice at Canadian penitentiaries. It must stop.

VATICAN CITY – The vulnerability of the poor and of future generations to the impact of climate change creates a "serious ethical and moral responsibility to act without delay and as free as possible from political and economic pressure" to slow climate change and protect the environment, Pope Francis said.

LISBON, Portugal – The Portuguese politician nominated to be the next U.N. secretary-general is a deeply committed Catholic with an anti-abortion record and an involvement in charity work that dates back to his years as a university student.

SAO PAULO – The Portuguese Bishops Conference praised former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres for his "deep sense of humanity and faith" after he was nominated as United Nations secretary-general.

UNITED NATIONS – Religious organizations and local faith communities are longtime key providers of efficient, effective, compassionate aid to migrants and refugees, speakers said at a U.N. program Sept 19.

UNITED NATIONS – St. Teresa of Calcutta was described as the human face of eternal hope who embodied the founding principles of the world body during a program honoring her canonization.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, applauded recent progress made around the world to end the AIDS epidemic and warned against complacency on efforts to end the disease.

UNITED NATIONS – While religious freedom in much of the Middle East is under siege and the civil war in Syria seems to have no end in sight, Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus, and others called the United Nations to action.

A serious breakdown between the powerful Roman Catholic Church and the government in Burundi is raising concerns over stability in the East African nation, as senior government officials accuse the Church of sponsoring violence.