VATICAN CITY -- A commitment to defending and protecting human life requires a commitment to ending wars and to promoting nuclear disarmament, Pope Francis said.

Leaders of the 26 churches who represent more than 85 per cent of Canada’s Christians are demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss nuclear arms policy.

Three weeks after its convention in Toronto, the Parliament of the World’s Religions has aligned itself with Pope Francis by issuing a statement that condemns the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

SEOUL, South Korea – As nuclear negotiations with North Korea continue, Catholics in South Korea are encouraging devotion to their martyr saints and renewing prayers for peace on the peninsula.

VATICAN CITY – Nuclear disarmament will be the focus of a Vatican conference this Nov. 10-11, following recent progress toward international bans on nuclear weapons.

WASHINGTON – Agencies of the U.S. and European Catholic bishops have called for all nations to develop a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from their military arsenals.

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean Catholics are opposing both the country's reliance on nuclear power and the U.S. missile defence system recently established to pressure the North out of future weapon tests.

VATICAN CITY – Fully ratifying and adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty offers the world the "best hope of stemming nuclear proliferation" and taking a concrete step toward the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, a Vatican official said.

As tensions rise between world powers over events in Syria and Korea, Canada needs to show some “backbone” when it comes to nuclear weapons disarmament, says former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament Doug Roche.

VIENNA, Austria – In order to realize the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons the discourse of the international community surrounding nuclear security must be based on an ethic of trust, responsibility, and cooperation – not fear and suspicion, Vatican official Msgr. Antoine Camilleri said Tuesday.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and the Vatican are concerned about continuing tensions on the Korean peninsula "on account of the nuclear tests carried out by North Korea," the Vatican spokesman confirmed.

NEW YORK – Fr. Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest and herald of the Catholic social justice movement whose name — along with his late brother, Philip, also a priest — became synonymous with anti-war activism in the Vietnam era, has died.