News/International

VATICAN CITY - International leaders and representatives of various Syrian factions now engaged in peace talks must give "priority to negotiations over guns (and) to people over inordinate power," said the Vatican's observer at the talks.

AMMAN, Jordan - Raising olive branches, Christians from Catholic and Orthodox congregations crowded into a packed church in the Jordanian capital and sang the Lord's Prayer together in Arabic.

VATICAN CITY - Summarizing efforts made in 2013 to improve transparency and compliance with international standards for financial operations, the Vatican bank confirmed that it conducted a "detailed investigation" of the accounts held by a monsignor arrested by Italian police for the second time Jan. 21.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27, the White House announced and the Vatican confirmed.

VATICAN CITY - As world leaders gathered in the hopes of finding a peaceful solution to Syria's three-year-long brutal conflict, Pope Francis asked that they spare no effort in bringing an end to the violence.

OXFORD, England - The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church appealed for calm as violence worsened between police and pro-European Union demonstrators in Kiev, Ukraine.

BEIRUT - The president of the Assembly of Catholic Hierarchs in Syria appealed for people to pray for the success of the Syrian peace conference set to start in Geneva Jan. 22.

JERUSALEM - Bishops from North America, Europe and Africa called on international leaders to act immediately so people living in the Gaza Strip can have access to basic necessities.

VATICAN CITY - Testifying before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a Vatican representative acknowledged the horror of clerical sexual abuse and insisted the Vatican was serious about protecting children.

Updated 01/16/14

VATICAN CITY - Toronto's Cardinal Thomas Collins is one of four cardinals Pope Francis has appointed to a five-person commission overseeing the Vatican bank.