Pope urges Catholics to be generous despite pandemic fallout Pope Francis greets participants in the plenary session of the Holy See's humanitarian arm for the Oriental Churches Updated: June 25, 2021 05:33 AM GMT Trending Pope Francis meets with the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches. (Photo: Vatican Media) International solidarity in funding the rebuilding of schools, hospitals and churches destroyed by war is important, Pope Francis said, but "we need to be concerned above all for the living stones who have been wounded and dispersed." From Georgia south through Iraq and Syria, then from the Holy Land through North Africa to the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the needs of Christian communities are pressing, Pope Francis said June 24 as he met with representatives of a Vatican coalition of funding agencies, known by its Italian acronym, ROACO.