Cody Weddle

Iota marked the first recorded Category 5 storm ever to hit the island. The Colombian government estimates that the hurricane damaged 100% of structures, destroying eight of 10 of them.

"We are living in a de facto regime," read a nine-point statement from the bishops released Jan. 9. "The attempt to begin a new presidential term on Jan. 10, 2019, is illegitimate in its origins, and it opens the door for the nonrecognition of the government."

The Catholic Church in Latin America must return to the principles of a 1968 conference that shifted the church's emphasis toward the poor majority, said participants in a four-day meeting in Medellin, Colombia.

A jail riot and fire that killed 68 people in Venezuela's deadliest tragedy in decades could have been prevented, according to the Venezuelan bishops' conference.

Venezuelans are fleeing economic collapse and shortage of food and medicine. At the border diocese of Cucuta, the church provides food and shelter as the exodus strains local resources.

The strenuous relationship between the Venezuelan regime and local church leaders deteriorated further in January, with President Nicolas Maduro calling two bishops "devils in a cassock."