I am puzzled by Melanie McDonagh’s conclusion (Notebook, 30 November) that since Pope Francis is calling on Western governments to welcome migrants he is, therefore, not in favour of giving direct aid to countries such as Iraq and Syria. And so she is “with Mr Orban on this”, i.e. the Hungarian prime minister’s policy to give direct aid to Christians, but not to receive them as refugees in Hungary.

Pope Francis, at a meeting in Rome on 18 September (and on many subsequent occasions), said that each day he places before the Lord “the sufferings and the needs of the churches and people of those beloved lands as well as those who work to assist them”.

At a meeting in 14 September 2018 with 150 representatives of Catholic agencies and others assisting victims of the wars in Syria and Iraq, Pope Francis repeated his plea to the international community to help find a way to restore peace throughout Syria and “to guarantee the conditions that will allow the millions of people displaced by the fighting in Syria and Iraq to return home”.