Six of the refugees are children, and all are Muslims

Francis was joined by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Primate of Greece, Archbishop Ieronymous II.

“I got here thanks to Allah,” said Munir, whose son was killed in Syria.

More than half a million refugees have passed through Lesbos over the past year.

Pope Francis is on record as saying that the future of the church is in Asia.

In his post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the family, “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis not only strongly affirms the traditional Christian ideal of marriage; he also opens doors to the progressive integration into the life of the church of those Catholic

Pope Francis has appointed the French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, one of the Holy See’s most distinguished and respected diplomats.

Cardinal Schönborn: “There is continuity in teaching here, but there is also something really new.”

Integration requires discernment, but the doors are open, even to the sacraments.

The pope plans to visit the Greek island of Lesbos in mid-April.