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.

The strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off.

Catholic bishops whose dioceses cover portions of Maryland said their state "is not immune from this tragic reality."

The U.S. State Department's will no longer contribute to the U.N. Population Fund because of the agency's involvement in China's "one-child policy."