Vatican seeks Mideast Christians' right of return

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican is demanding that Christians and other religious minorities have the right to return to their homes in Iraq and Syria that have been emptied by Islamic militants.

Pope Francis summoned Vatican ambassadors from across the region for three days of meetings. At the conclusion Saturday, they reaffirmed that military force was justified to stop the Islamic State group and that Muslim and Christian religious leaders must denounce the “instrumentalization of religion to justify violence.”