Pope Francis will visit Corsica on December 15, 2024, marking his first trip to the French island
- Pope Francis will visit Corsica on December 15, 2024, his first trip to the French island.
- The visit will include a conference on popular religiosity in Ajaccio, the island’s capital.
- Corsica is a region with a large Catholic population, but also one of the poorest in France.
Pope Francis will visit Corsica on December 15, 2024, marking his first trip to the French island
Pope Francis will make a historic visit to Corsica on December 15, 2024, officially announced by the Vatican. This will be the first trip by a pope to the French island, and the one-day visit will focus on a conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean region. The Pope will speak in the island’s capital, Ajaccio, and address important topics for the Catholic Church in the area, writes Reuters.
This visit will join Pope Francis’ 46 international trips since he became pope in 2013. Although not a full state visit, Corsica is a symbolic place for the Pope, given the religious importance of the island, where most of the inhabitants are Catholics.
Pope Francis, who will turn 88 in December, refused the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron to participate in the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Instead, the pope will celebrate a similar ceremony at the Vatican on the same day.
Corsica, known for its mountainous landscape and history, is one of the poorest regions in France, with around 20% of the population living below the poverty line. Despite this fact, 81.5% of the island’s 356,000 inhabitants are Catholic.
Source: www.mediafax.ro
