"Pray for good weather," he said to laughs. "But also pray for what God wants you to learn from the experience."

The "high certainty of catastrophic death and destruction from any military action must prompt the United States to work with others in the international community for a diplomatic and political solution based on dialogue."

Lou McClung has made it his vocation to preserve artifacts from closed churches in Northeast Ohio.

Allowing the pipeline through the property would run contrary to the congregation's Land Ethic.

"The indiscriminate and disproportionate nature of nuclear weapons compel the world to move beyond nuclear deterrence," the declaration said.

More than a dozen leaders lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in a unified front to defend a broad array of domestic and international aid programs that, they argued, sustain life.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops "is on record supporting prudent action to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change."

Hundreds of Catholics joined the People's Climate March to call for moral and prayerful action to protect creation.

Noonan was a prolific writer, authoring books on topics of concern to the church such as contraception, abortion and religious freedom, as well as legal subjects.

Reversing any effort that reduces greenhouse gas pollution endangers the planet and puts the world's most vulnerable people at risk, the advocates said.