PARIS - German Msgr. Josef Sayer prayed over a crowd of environmental activists at Saint-Merry Catholic Church, where they had joined for Mass after two weeks of intense lobbying in and around the U.N. climate change conference.

PARIS - Faith-based groups presented French President Francois Hollande with 1.8 million signatures of people seeking a fair climate change agreement that would stop global warming and protect the poor, reported religious groups in Paris for the U.N. climate change conference.

PARIS - Thandiwe Chidararume, who farms sweet potato, nuts and corn in Zimbabwe, traveled nearly 5,000 miles to be in Paris for the U.N. climate change conference. She wanted to tell negotiators there of the problems she and thousands of other Zimbabwean farmers face due to adverse weather conditions.

PARIS - A senior Vatican official urged a roomful of world leaders "to take action" and work in a spirit of solidarity to come up with an accord to combat global warming before it is too late.

PARIS - Major hurdles stand in the way of a global accord on climate change, including over the questions of human rights and who pays the costs for poor countries to transition into using greener energy, said Catholic and other Church activists on the sidelines of the UN climate conference.

VATICAN CITY - Heads of states at the U.N. climate change conference in Paris must do everything possible to mitigate the effects of both climate change and poverty "for the good of our common home," Pope Francis said.

CAIRO - Africa is among the world's regions most in need of a "just and clear" global accord to combat climate change, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told the UN climate conference in Paris.

WASHINGTON - Catholic organizations advocating to protect the world and its people from the impact of climate change said the terror attacks in Paris will not dissuade them from attending the UN summit on climate change to be held there Nov. 30-Dec. 11.

Pope Francis has been getting ready for Paris for more than a year. In May of 2014 the Patriarch of Rome sat down in Jerusalem with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and issued a joint declaration as a challenge to the world’s Christians.

Ottawa - As the new Liberal government pushes ahead with an ambitious plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by Christmas, it is also faces urgent challenges on three other issues important to the Church: climate change, indigenous rights and assisted suicide.

Canadian church organizations and leaders are putting the power of prayer to the test leading up to the Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 international negotiations on climate change in Paris.

PARIS - Climate change and the refugee crisis are the two biggest challenges facing Europe that need a unified response recognizing the “ecological debt” richer nations owe poorer ones, the president of Europe’s Roman Catholic bishops conference said.

VATICAN CITY - The presidents of the U.S. and Canadian bishops' conferences joined leaders of the regional bishops' conferences of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania and Europe in signing an appeal for government leaders to reach a "fair, legally binding and truly transformational climate agreement" at a summit in Paris.

On the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation on Sept. 1, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace launched its fall campaign demanding action on climate change.

TORONTO - The youngest students at James Culnan Catholic School are getting the opportunity to connect with nature as part of their daily life at school.