ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO COLOMBIA – Flying to Colombia, with a flight plan changed to avoid Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean Sea, Pope Francis told reporters that Colombia and its neighbor, Venezuela, were in his prayers.

VATICAN CITY – After violence followed a controversial vote in Venezuela this weekend, the Vatican Secretary of State has encouraged the country's citizens to find a "peaceful and democratic" way out of the crisis.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino said the nation's government must take the blame for at least 10 deaths related to a controversial election.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas has repudiated Sunday's attack on a referendum in which the vast majority of participants expressed their opposition to the constituent assembly called by President Maduro.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's bishops said the country's government aims to install a "military dictatorship, socialist, Marxist and communist."

VATICAN CITY – Two former Latin American presidents said the world is running out of time to find a solution to the crisis in Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro aims to consolidate power over the country.

VATICAN CITY – Negotiations between government and opposition groups in Venezuela, followed by free and fair elections, are needed to put an end to violence and bring relief to the suffering people, a Vatican official said.

VATICAN CITY – After meeting Pope Francis and seeing how moved he was by their description of the crisis gripping Venezuela, the leaders of the country's bishops' conference said they hoped the Pope would help draw the world's attention to the suffering of their people.

CARACAS, Venezuela – The Venezuelan bishops' conference reiterated its rejection of a government proposal to draft a new constitution, after a rare meeting between the conference president and top government representatives.

VATICAN CITY – With soaring food prices and a free-falling economy, child malnutrition in Venezuela has crossed the threshold of a humanitarian crisis, the local chapter of Caritas Internationalis said.

FATIMA, Portugal – Our Lady of Fatima's message of peace to a country suffering from war and persecution resonates today just as it did a century ago, a Venezuelan pilgrim said.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Bishops from across Latin America condemned the ongoing violence in Venezuela and called for the church to find ways to provide charity to the South American country amid food shortages that have left thousands hungry.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Garbage dumps have become “a regular place for people to eat” in Venezuela, says a local priest lamenting the nation's increasingly dire economic and political crisis.

VATICAN CITY – While violent protests continue to break out in the streets of Venezuela, Pope Francis urged the country's bishops to remain close to the poor and needy.

VATICAN CITY – As anti-government protests in Venezuela turned deadly, Pope Francis called for an end to the bloodshed.