"The past night has struck us and shaken us deeply," Bishop Gebhard Furst told attendees at Rottenburg's Cathedral of St. Martin.

A tractor-trailer veered into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin and plowed through bystanders, killing 12 people and wounding nearly 50.

The bill will improve U.S. religious freedom diplomacy efforts globally; better train and equip diplomats to counter extremism; address anti-Semitism and religious persecution and mitigate sectarian conflict.

The bishops will be ready to respond to any executive orders and legislation that the new Congress and President-elect Donald J. Trump may introduce.

The move raises questions whether the evacuation will be over before the observers arrive.

In a world marked by violence, "the choice of nonviolence as a style of life is increasingly demanded in the exercise of responsibility at every level," the pope said.