Their presence on Lesbos will be highly symbolic at a time of growing criticism of the EU-Turkey deal.

The society said its legal status in the church wasn't discussed but that lower-level talks would continue "without haste."

The new rules call for an administrator to be named for each saintly cause who must "scrupulously respect" the intention of each donation.

The Chiapas visit is aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico.

Pope Francis heads into the capital's crime-ridden suburb of Ecatepec on Sunday to see firsthand the reality of the Mexican "periphery," where drug violence, gangland-style executions and kidnappings are daily facts of life.The pontiff is expected to bring a message of hope and solidar

Francis begins his trip praying before the Virgin of Guadalupe shrine. After that he enters uncharted papal territory.

The two churches split during the Great Schism of 1054 and have remained estranged over a host of issues, including the primacy of the pope.

The Rome-based Catholic Sant'Egidio Community and the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy lobbied the Italian government to grant 1,000 humanitarian visas for particularly vulnerable refugees.