Why Pope Francis chose to go to Corsica and ignore the reopening of Notre-Dame – Libération

The Pope will indeed visit Ajaccio on Sunday, December 15, the Vatican confirmed this Saturday, November 23. A move in line with papal interest in “the peripheries”, but which upsets the French authorities. An affront to Emmanuel Macron?

After several days of suspense, the Vatican officially announced, this Saturday, November 23, the trip of Pope Francis to Corsica on Sunday, December 15. A historic visit. No sovereign pontiff has ever traveled to the island. This confirmation dragged on a little, Cardinal François Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio, still mentioning, two days ago, “administrative and diplomatic adjustments“. Clearly, for the experts, it would be the delay of the Elysée in transmitting the necessary invitation so that the number 1 of the Catholic Church (who has the status of head of state) can go to the island. In any case, François' choice to go to Ajaccio upset the French authorities.

Is this trip an affront to the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and France? The visit will take place, in fact, a week after the sumptuous festivities organized for the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, to which Francis had been invited. Emmanuel Macron ardently wanted his presence. “I won't come to Paris, I won't come to Paris», replied the pope, a little exasperated at the French insistence, on the plane which brought him back to Rome on September 13, after a long journey in Asia and Oceania. THE