Pope Francis does not aspire to fulfill his role as a theologian but as a pastor.

The synod, scheduled for Oct. 6-27, will focus on "Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology."

The ecological restoration work here is locked in a race against deforestation as hard-pressed Malagasy turn to the forests to make charcoal, build homes or clear the forest for subsistence food production.

Fresh off the papal flight, Gerry tells us if a schism may actually happen.

Heading home from his trip to Africa, the pope criticized “schools of rigidity” in the church but said he welcomed criticism and did not see a U.S. schism as imminent. America’s Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, reports.

The property has an appraised value of $8.4 million, according to the King County Department of Assessments.

Pope Francis encouraged the Mauritian people to support “a better division of income and the integral promotion of the poor” and “not to yield to the temptation of an idolatrous economic model that sacrifices human lives on the altar of speculation and profit alone.”

Pope Francis encouraged the bishops of Madagascar “to be sowers of hope and peace” in the midst of the contradictions that are so evident in this land.

On his first day in Madagascar, Pope Francis issued a strong call to the governmental authorities of this island of 27 million people to fight “with determination” against “endemic forms of corruption and speculation,” to “confront” the situations that “create conditions of inhumane poverty,” and to protect the environment against damage to nature and the people.

He praised “the efforts made in recent decades to ensure that peace is once more the norm and reconciliation the best path to confront the difficulties and challenges that you face as a nation.”