Advocates working to end the death penalty say they have long seen the links between racism and capital punishment and they plan to continue to speak out about it until they see a change.

Catholic groups at the U.N. climate conference said they were disappointed that, in the meeting’s opening days, few world leaders demonstrated progress in implementing their climate commitments or financial support for countries bearing the brunt of climate change.

Father Guillermo Treviño’s efforts with the Latin American community led to him being named the recipient of the annual Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award from CCHD, the U.S. bishops’ domestic anti-poverty and social justice program.

The Vatican has decided to open an investigation into French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, the retired archbishop of Bordeaux, who admitted in a public letter that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago.

Belgium’s Catholic monarch, King Albert I, stayed with his people during World War I, sharing in their suffering and keeping spirits alive through the grueling years of occupation and military resistance until Germany and the Allied powers signed an armistice Nov. 11, 1918.

Although Catholic leaders and state Catholic conferences had pushed for the defeat of ballot measures protecting legal abortion and urged voters to pass measures restricting abortions, state voters ultimately went the other way Nov. 8.

For there to be peace, people need to expand their horizons, engage in dialogue and work with each other in a way that sets aside selfishness and ambition, Pope Francis said.

Leaders gathered in Egypt for the U.N. climate summit have “a moral obligation” to act seriously and together to safeguard the planet and to offer concrete aid to people suffering the “more frequent and more serious humanitarian impacts caused by climate change,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis helped facilitate recent prisoner exchanges with Ukraine and said the Vatican is ready to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.

As the old saying goes: “There is no sinner without a future, and no saint without a past.”