AMMAN, Jordan - As Jordan steps up airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria to avenge the murder of its pilot, Catholic and other leaders are hoping that the tragedy can still yield good for the future.

LONDON - A Chaldean Catholic archbishop called for the redeployment of American and British troops in Iraq to prevent the “genocide” of Christians and other minorities by Islamic State militants.

AMMAN, Jordan - Christian churches in Jordan condemned the Islamic State militants' killing of First Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh, a Jordanian pilot who had been held in captivity by the jihadist group.

AINKAWA, Iraq - One of Iraq's Christians chased out of her historic homeland quietly prayed the rosary as a bishop who traveled halfway around the world to meet her and others displaced celebrated Mass for them.

MONTREAL - The long-term survival of Christianity in the Middle East is threatened and “humanity in the region where Christianity was born will not be the same without it,” a spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need told a seminar in Montreal this week.

ROME - Underlining the failure of the Nigerian government to stop the violent rampage of Boko Haram, a Catholic bishop has called for Western military intervention.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican rejected reports that it could be the next target of Islamist terrorists after last week’s deadly attacks in France.

VATICAN CITY - In his appeals for an end to the persecution of minorities in Syria and Iraq, Pope Francis often has mentioned both the Christians and the Yezidis attacked by Islamic State fighters.

From imprisonment to torture to beheadings, more Christians worldwide live in fear for their lives than at any time in the modern era.

AY, Jordan - Christian clergy led by the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem visited the family of the Muslim Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State and expressed support and continued prayers.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis deplored the "abuses and inhuman acts" of Islamic State militants, and called on all religious leaders to condemn them "unanimously and unambiguously." He also said he hoped to travel to the Middle East to comfort persecuted Christians there.

TORONTO - Islamic student groups across Canada are joining forces to combat youth radicalization and the extremist influence of ISIS.

Pope Francis said he would "never close the door" on dialogue with the Islamic State in an effort to bring peace to a region of the world suffering from violence and persecution.

VATICAN CITY - Gathering at "a time of severe tension and conflict," particularly in the Middle East, 24 Catholic and Muslim leaders and scholars urged dialogue to promote greater respect and understanding and condemned all acts of violence committed in the name of religion.