BEIRUT – The first time a band of Islamic State militants “visited” the monks, they presented the monks with a kind of suggestion, in a nonthreatening manner: “Why don’t you become a Muslim?”

VATICAN CITY – On Easter Monday, Pope Francis led thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in praying for the hundreds of people who died or were injured in bomb blasts the previous day in Sri Lanka.

WASHINGTON – The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops termed as “a great evil” the Easter terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka targeting the country’s minority Christian community as worshippers packed three churches.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – More than 300 people were killed and more than 500 injured in Easter attacks on three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka. The bombings were the latest in a string of Easter season bombings by extremists.

MANCHESTER, England - Pope Francis decried the "barbaric attack" on concertgoers in Manchester, adding his voice to Catholic leaders dismayed at what British officials said was the deadliest case of terrorism since 2005.

VATICAN CITY - Expressing his condolences to victims and their families, Pope Francis called for an end to terrorism following a string of deadly attacks in Berlin and Ankara.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis condemned the attack on Bastille Day celebrations in France, calling it an act of "blind violence."

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, condemning the "blind violence" of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, offered his prayers to the victims, the injured, their families and all those offering assistance in the aftermath of the bombings.