"We know their names and we remember them," said Sister Lucey, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, who joined other Christian groups, along with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and members of their faith communities at a chapel in the United Methodist Building in Washington.

Catholics, Cardinal Farrell said, must have a more "pastoral orientation" to fulfill the Christian obligation to "take care of another in a loving and caring manner in accordance with our view of human life: that every man and every woman is created in the image and likeness of God."

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City expressed gratitude that lives were spared and that all residents of the Missouri capital are accounted for following a devastating tornado.

"We express our strongest condemnation at this disquieting wave of violence and assure our bruised brethren of solidarity, prayerful communion and compassion."

While Mr. Tennes’s attorneys argued that their client was being targeted because of his religious beliefs, Mr. Bogren said that discrimination against same-sex couples is not protected by religious liberty statutes. He compared discrimination against gay people to prejudice against racial minorities.

The presence of militant Islamist groups in the Congo such as ISIS is complicating the work of medical personnel in combating the Ebola virus epidemic, which has been rampant for the last 40 months.