The Catholic bishop of Belfast urged politicians to be more careful about their language as the city was engulfed in nightly violence.

German and Swiss bishops who knew and worked with Father Hans Küng described him as a man who loved the Catholic Church, even though the theologian sometimes went beyond the limits of Catholic doctrine and criticized the decisions of church leaders.

Archbishop John Wester, Bishop John Stowe and other Catholic leaders declared, “We, Bishops, religious and lay leaders of the Roman Catholic Church join with the Human Rights Campaign in calling for an end to the epidemic of violence against transgender individuals.”

Austria's Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has said he cannot deny same-sex couples a blessing if they request one and that he was "not happy" with the Vatican's mid-March statement on same-sex unions.

The U.S. bishops’ conference has made defeating the Equality Act a priority, citing concerns over religious freedom.

“Jesus thought we were worth dying for,” the retired archbishop of Philadelphia said. ”There must be a lot of things that we ought to think are worth living and dying for.”