A week before the anticipated release of Pope Francis' encyclical on human ecology and the environment, the U.S. bishops were urged to help Catholics hear and understand it.

Ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine was the principal topic of their conversation.

The U.S. bishops join with other religious leaders and civic leaders "in pledging to work for healing and reconciliation" after a series of racial conflicts "that have taken place around our beloved country," said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky.

Move considered 'a further sign of the Vatican's commitment to financial transparency'

Declaration urges people to consider the moral dimensions of a changing climate.

C.D.F. to "judge bishops with regard to crimes...connected to the abuse of minors."