It's very hard to help a horde; it's a lot easier to connect when looking at someone's suffering face.

Pope Francis followed that basic human psychology when he took three Syrian refugee families back with him to Rome after his recent trip to Greece. Yes, he called attention to the political problem of huge numbers of refugees being detained or shipped back to Turkey, but he also made it personal, thus offering a challenge to anyone who could help even one other person.

Picture a young Muslim family walking out of the gates of a refugee camp that has held them in for months. Think how glad they were even for that dismal shelter after being bombed and hungry in Damascus. Now imagine them feeling the sidewalks of Rome — or the grass of Ledyard — under their feet.

Look at the person, not the label, has been a major theme of this pope's ministry. At Lesbos, Greece, earlier this month, he and two leaders of Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, demonstrated that a concern for the suffering of millions of refugees is what matters — not whether they are Christian, Muslim or neither.

Last year Francis urged every Catholic parish in Europe to take in a refugee family, and in Greece he praised the local citizens of Lesbos who have rescued and fed and helped the immigrants literally washing up on their shores.

Caring citizens and faith communities in southeastern Connecticut have taken up the challenge and expect to welcome families beginning next week. Their good will and hard work will give these displaced souls a new home.

That's just the start, and it won't be easy. If it were, the JFK Library Foundation would not have given Gov. Dannel P. Malloy a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for welcoming refugee programs when other governors refused them. Malloy will be presented with the award Sunday.

It won't be easy for family breadwinners who must learn English, get a driver's license and find a job as fast as possible. Nor will it be easy for the immigrant children who don't speak English and have been out of school for many months. Some in the local Muslim community worry about the reception the children will find among their new classmates. Schools will need to prepare their students, and parents can set a good example of kindness and welcome. Still, there will be fearful people who think it would be safer to turn the refugees away.

The organizers of the local efforts say they don't focus on such fears. Each family that arrives here will first be vetted for admission to the United States. In time, they will be familiar faces in Old Lyme, Ledyard, New London, Waterford and other towns.

Faith communities, civic organizations and academic institutions that haven't stepped up to help can still do so. The organization IRIS (Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services), based in New Haven, is coordinating many of the efforts.

Pope Francis' example is a reminder that Christians, Jews and Muslims are called by their faiths to welcome the stranger, one soul at a time.