The 17th-century theologian and scientist Blaise Pascal once wrote: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.”

MANCHESTER, England – Global demand for metallic ores used in cellphones is thwarting efforts to end war and violence in Congo, said an African priest.

MOUNT NEBO, Jordan – Christians of many denominations gathered for an Easter sunrise service atop Mount Nebo and prayed for peace and for Christians in Egypt, who were not celebrating as festively.

VATICAN CITY – Violence is not the way to fix a broken world, rather it only benefits a handful of "warlords" who profit off of human bloodshed, Pope Francis said.

YAMBIO, South Sudan – As civilians are increasingly targeted in South Sudan's civil war, a bishop urged prominent community leaders to unequivocally condemn revenge killings, violence against civilians, and hate speech that ignites tribal sentiments.

KINSHASA, Congo – Congo's bishops said Catholics are facing a new wave of violence following the collapse of a church mediation plan, and in some places church leaders have fled to the forest.

CHICAGO, Ill. – As violence continues to plague the city of Chicago, Pope Francis has sent words of encouragement, solidarity and hope to the people who live there.

IRBIL, Iraq – The Chaldean Catholic patriarch is supporting a more than 80-mile peace march during Holy Week to urge an end to violence in his homeland and throughout the Middle East.

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico – A bishop in Mexico's Guerrero state, which suffers the most from drug- and gang-related violence, recently met with gang leaders in order to protect priests who were receiving death threats.

JESUS MARIA, Mexico – Fr. Felipe Altamirano Carrillo, an indigenous priest who served in the Mexico's western state of Nayarit, was murdered Sunday while returning from saying Mass in one of the towns in which he served.

KINSHASA, Congo – Catholic bishops in Congo have abandoned attempts to arrange a government-opposition power-sharing agreement, amid rising violence.

SANTIAGO, Chile – The residents of La Legua, Santiago's most notorious community, are never sure when the gunfights will begin.

MANILA, Philippines – Caught in the throes of a brutal war on drugs, the people of the Philippines are increasingly looking to the Catholic Church to provide refuge and resistance.

Congolese Catholics in Toronto are in shock as they learn about politically-motivated attacks on Catholic churches and schools in their majority-Catholic homeland.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican and one of Islam’s most renowned schools of Sunni thought are joining forces to discuss how they can work together in combating religious extremism that uses God’s name to justify violence.