On board the flight from Rome to the Greek island of Lesbos, the Pope said: “We are going to witness first-hand the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War II”. Prime Minister Tsipras thanked the Pope for his “welcoming words at a time when other Christian leaders in Europe are raising barriers” Greek government sources say that upon his return to the Vatican Bergoglio may take ten or so refugees with him.

According to the Archbishop of Agrigento (Italy), Cardinal Montenegro, the Pope will leave his mark with his visit to the Greek island too; he is among the few who have realised that the history of the world is changing. Europe is the home of people’s rights and cannot act as it is doing. Italy too, would be a poorer place without migrants. It is wrong and unfair to say that every migrant could be a potential terrorist, in fact their wars are caused partly by the need to fulfil our interests

At today’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope said he will be going "along with my brothers the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos”, “to express sympathy and solidarity with refugees and the citizens of Lesbos and all the Greek people who are so generous in their welcome”. In his catechesis he recalled: “There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future”.

At this morning’s mass in St. Martha’s House, on April 13, Pope Francis said persecution has always been the “daily bread” of Christians. This persecution is either violent or is the “white-glove” kind, in other words isolation and the inability to contest “laws” that go against the Creator.

Accounts of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians. A journey to Jordan’s poorest province, to a hospital run by the Comboni missionaries.

The wide-ranging papal document on the Catholic Church and modern-day families that the Vatican released on Friday, April 8, was expected to be the culmination of a two-year gantlet of unusually frank discussions — a chance for Pope Francis to finally settle the fierce debates, and even dark warnings of schism, that his effort to open dialogue on contentious topics had unleashed.

Easter celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are impressive and magnificent indeed. I returned this year to Jerusalem to perform the feast rituals after being away for 20 years, so I participated in the Easter eve prayers with the parishioners of the Franciscan Church of the Savior whose parish priest is Jordanian priest Firas Hijazin. On Easter Sunday, I prayed with the other believers at the same church, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal celebrated Mass. This natural “pride”, that overwhelmed me, was tarnished with several thoughts.

Precisely because it is not concerned with defending the “principle” of the family, the Pope’s Exhortation puts family life across as a “great adventure”, like a gamble that offers no certainties. A vertiginous journey in which “eternal” faithfulness is entrusted to grace.

The difficulties and challenges but also the positive contribution of conjugal love. Pope Francis’ post-Synodal Exhortation is the “charter” for the coming decades. From the importance of sexuality (“a marvellous gift” from God) to two chapters laying out the fundamentals of love between spouses. Family is “a good which society cannot do without”. The document also offers advice on educating children

Father Rifat Bader is the director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan and the pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Naour. The Catholic Church in Jordan is an integral part of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, together with that of Israel, Palestine and Cyprus. In this interview, Fr. Bader speaks to us about the Catholic Church’s commitment to supporting many migrants who are fleeing Syria and Iraq.