SEOUL, South Korea – The president of the Korean bishops' conference has welcomed President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative, saying it matches the church's views on how peace can be achieved on the peninsula.

WASHINGTON – The Senate Republicans' latest effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act is "unacceptable" and shows little improvement over the lawmakers' first attempt to reform the federal health care law, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.

WASHINGTON – The president of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference and two committee chairmen condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the fatal shooting of two Israeli police officers July 14 in Jerusalem's Old City near some of the world's holiest sites.

MANILA, Philippines – A week after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit the central Philippine province of Leyte, hundreds of residents were still living in temporary shelters.

WASHINGTON – Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services asked for prayers for the 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman who died July 10 when a Marine refuelling and cargo plane crashed in a soybean field in rural Mississippi near the town of Itta Bena.

WASHINGTON – The Vatican recently published a circular letter, "On the bread and wine for the Eucharist," sent to diocesan bishops at the request of Pope Francis. Dated June 15 – the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – the letter was made public by the Vatican July 8.

NEW DELHI – Yemen's foreign minister told Indian officials that Salesian Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, kidnapped in Yemen last year, is still alive, and efforts to trace him continue.

HONG KONG – Hong Kong Christians came together to pray for terminally ill Liu Xiaobo, less than a week before his death.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Catholic bishops appealed for a "return to normalcy and peace ... as soon as possible," as violence continues in the southern part of the country.

JUBA, South – The head of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference challenged South Sudan to admit it is bankrupt after it failed to raise the funds to host Independence Day celebrations for a third year running.