Pope Francis to pray at Auschwitz

Pope Francis is due to pray at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland on Friday.

Francis will walk in silence around the concentration and extermination camp where 1.1m million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War Two.

On the third day of his visit to Poland, the pontiff will also meet camp survivors and Poles who risked their lives to hide Jews from the Nazis.

Francis is the third Pope to walk through the main gate of Auschwitz, under its infamous inscription "Arbeit Macht Frei" - work sets you free.

Accompanied by a group of survivors, the visit to Auschwitz is expected to be one of the most powerful moments of the pontiff’s five-day trip to Poland.

Representatives of Kraków’s Jewish community will meet privately with Pope Francis after the pontiff’s visit to Auschwitz.

During a World Youth Day rally in the southern city of Krakow on Thursday, he urged compassion for migrants.

He told hundreds of thousands of people that "a merciful heart opens up to welcome refugees and migrants" - a statement that puts him at odds with Poland's anti-immigrant right-wing government.

He is in the country to mark 1,050 years since it adopted Christianity.