"The devil always comes in through the pocket, always," the pope said.

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.

Without a faith dimension, ideological and political notions of development will fail, even if they have some initial success, Cardinal Gerhard Muller said.

“Church leaders in Australia took a long time to sit down with victims. Some still don’t.”

The pope told the participants that his first reaction to hearing about "this praiseworthy initiative" was one of gratitude to God.