KIEV, Ukraine - Ukrainian Catholic bishops thanked people around the world for their prayers over the last six months and asked for continued prayers for peace in their country.

OXFORD, ENGLAND - King Juan Carlos of Spain received a tribute from the country’s bishops after he announced his decision to abdicate the throne in favour of his son.

ROME - Meeting more than 50,000 Catholic charismatics in Rome's Olympic Stadium, Pope Francis admitted he was not always comfortable with the way they prayed, but he knelt onstage as they prayed for him and over him by singing and speaking in tongues.

OXFORD, England - The Catholic Church in the Central African Republic pleaded for firmer action by United Nations-backed peacekeepers after an attack on a Bangui church left the parish priest and at least 14 worshippers dead.

WASHINGTON - Like many students graduating from college this spring, Ivy Seraphin always assumed she would go straight to graduate school.

VATICAN CITY - Given the Holy Land's long and complex history of military, religious and cultural conflict, the run-up to Pope Francis' May 24-26 pilgrimage was inevitably marked by fears it would be marred by controversy — or worse.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Churches in Sudan, including the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, have condemned the death sentence handed to a pregnant Christian who refused to renounce her faith.

DUBLIN - The Vatican's chief prosecutor of sex abuse crimes said the Church needs to do more to develop the process for punishing bishops who fail in their duty to protect children.

LVIV, Ukraine - Ukrainian Catholic bishops said their country's May 25 presidential election must proceed, despite any efforts to derail it.