He hit the million-follower mark in just 12 hours, making his "our fastest growing account on Instagram to date."

"How beautiful it would be if in every diocese there were a structural work of mercy: a hospital, a home for the aged or abandoned children... a home for recovering drug addicts."

"Washing the feet of the refugees, Pope Francis is asking for respect for each one of them."

Likes millions of refugees around the world, Hassan packed up his family to flee violence and to try to find a safe place where his children could grow and thrive.

The pope "entrusts to God's mercy those who died and, in prayer, he shares the pain of their loved ones," the message said.

Catholics at all levels of the church also need to learn to listen to women's "voices of faith" as input that is not "threatening," but enriching.

Father Rizzo said he usually hears 20-30 confessions a day in Italian or Spanish, but the number of penitents increases on Saturdays and Sundays, and he will offer the sacrament to at least 50 people each day on the weekend.

Four Missionaries of Charity and 10 to 12 other people at a home the sisters operate for the elderly and disabled in Aden, Yemen.

Pope Francis "is inviting us to lower our voices. You cannot have a dialogue shouting."

The Cuba meeting was not an improvisation, Father Lombardi said; it took two years of intense planning and negotiations to schedule.