Humility, courage and openness are crucial in creating harmony between social, scientific and political bodies, the pope said.

Women wailed as caskets marked with the word "martyr" were brought into the St. Mina monastery in Alexandria.

Pope Francis asked God "to convert the hearts of those who spread terror, violence and death, and also the hearts of those who make, and traffic in, weapons."

The bishops wrote an eight-point communique on March 31, saying, "Venezuelans can't remain passive, be intimidated, or lose hope."

The 460-page commemorative volume gathers just a slice of the kind of rigorous research still being done today "in the light of faith," and in the footsteps of a 90-year-old pope.

Continued ethnic conflicts mar the fledgling democracy in Myanmar, which recently witnessed the inauguration of President U Htin Kyaw.