A leader in ecumenical relations, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor served as Catholic chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission for two decades.

The ruling Communist Party is again telling members that atheism remains a core value, not to be transgressed.

"The entire social pact is built around work. This is the core of the problem. Because when you do not work, or you work badly, you work little or you work too much, it is democracy that enters into crisis, and the entire social pact."

Pope Francis "trusts that the immense and immediate needs of so many individuals and communities will continue to inspire a vast outpouring of solidarity and mutual aid in the best traditions of the nation."

An estimated 7,000 men, women and children, primarily Haitians, have entered Canada over the summer since U.S. President Donald Trump ended a program offering temporary asylum to Haitians displaced by that nation's 2010 earthquake.

The forthcoming joint message will ask people of all faiths "to adopt a respectful and responsible approach toward creation."