“Peace be with you” was the message of the Risen Jesus to his disciples on the first Easter, and it is the message Francis will bring to the Muslim and Christian communities in this land.

"This is not a Christian crisis of concern only to Christians," Cardinal Wuerl said. "This is a human crisis."

In Europe the Christian population is dying faster than it is being replaced. In North America, the number of Christian deaths will begin to exceed the number of births to Christian parents by around 2050.

"ISIS had written really vile things about Jesus and the church. The convent was burned and gutted. Everything was stolen. Anything holy in their mind was burned."

A total of 40 percent of surveyed countries registered "high" or "very high" levels of overall restrictions, according to Pew Research Center’s annual study on global restrictions on religion.

“We need to have a national debate on these things; it’s not a decision for the president to make in the dead of night.”

If the referendum is approved, Turkey’s parliamentary system would be scrapped in favor of an executive presidency.

In March, it was reported that up to 200 civilians in the northern Iraq city of Mosul had been killed by a series of airstrikes.

For the patriarch, Holy Week culminating in the Easter celebration offers a fresh hope to breathe new life into prayer and reflection, reconciliation and dialogue.

The Vatican welcomed the refugee families after an appeal made by Pope Francis on every parish, religious community, monastery and shrine in Europe to take in a family of refugees.