MAKASSAR, Indonesia -- A suicide bomb attack on a Catholic cathedral compound shattered the calm of Palm Sunday Mass, leaving two bombers dead and at least 20 people wounded.

PARIS -- The head of French bishops' conference testified to a special commission of the National Assembly that while he understands the need to strengthen national security, a proposed law designed to rein in extremist militancy would place religions and religious believers under particular surveillance.

The old saw says nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of being hanged in the morning. I can personally attest that having a child living in a country of double beheadings runs a very close second.

PARIS -- France's Catholic bishops have joined Muslim leaders in condemning the beheading of a teacher in a Paris suburb.

VATICAN CITY -- After one of the deadliest attacks in Burkina Faso in recent years, Pope Francis urged leaders there to do more to protect vulnerable civilians and to promote dialogue and social harmony.

NEGOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has finally won a concession from Sri Lanka's government after widespread criticism of the investigation into the deadly Easter Sunday attacks.

WASHINGTON -- Iraqi Christians face "extinction" unless Islam recognizes the fundamental equality of all people and takes steps to overcome violent factions that seek to force religious minorities from the country, said Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil.

WASHINGTON -- Despite the blasphemy law that has roiled Christians in Pakistan, the government has not executed anyone found guilty at trial.

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?"

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso -- Suspected Muslim extremists attacked another Catholic church in Burkina Faso, killing four people and raising the death toll among Christians to 20 in wave of violence in the West Africa nation.