"The injustices and sufferings still being inflicted by these executioners risk diverting us from God's path into a spiral of vengeance and cycle of violence," the bishops said.

The mineral-rich country has suffered persistent violence by armed groups, leaving 4.5 million people displaced and a fifth of the population needing basic assistance, according to the United Nations.

U.S. agencies have been scrambling to find adequate facilities for migrants streaming across the border with Mexico, and the Border Patrol has been detaining some children for weeks as opposed to the court-mandated 72 hours.

St. Peter's University and America Media hosted a discussion that focused on the challenges facing Latino communities in the United States.

"This image cries to heaven for justice. This image silences politics. Who can look on this picture and not see the results of the failures of all of us to find a humane and just solution to the immigration crisis?" the bishops said.

English bishops welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling that a pregnant mentally disabled woman did not need to have an abortion.