A week after having snubbed the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, despite the invitation of the Head of State, the Pope from Rome arrived Sunday morning at Ajaccio airport for a whirlwind visit. He was welcomed there by the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau and a small group of Corsican children, to the sound of Corsican music. The head of the Catholic Church had already visited French territory twice since the start of his pontificate in 2013, to Strasbourg in 2014 and to Marseille in September 2023, but has never made a state visit there. . This is why it was Emmanuel Macron himself who made the effort to travel to meet him a few minutes before his return to the Vatican at the end of the day. A look back at the highlights of his visit.
The sovereign pontiff was welcomed by the resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau after his landing at the Napoléon Bonaparte airport in Ajaccio shortly before 9 a.m.
The Holy Father, with still a hematoma on his face, the result of a fall when getting out of bed, a few days ago paraded in front of 12,000 faithful committed to his cause, on an island where more than 80% of the population declares themselves Catholic. .
Speaking at the closing of a congress on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”, the pope defended “a concept of secularism which is not static and fixed, but evolving and dynamic”.
A secularism “capable of adapting to different or unforeseen situations, and of promoting constant cooperation between civil and ecclesiastical authorities for the good of the entire community, each remaining within the limits of its competences and its space “.
Increasingly physically diminished, at 87 years old, Pope Francis rarely leaves his wheelchair to move around. He made his 47th papal trip on Sunday since being chosen by the cardinals in 2013.
“Do you think he’s from Macon? Let me know I'm leaving before hihihi”
Before giving a first mass in the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption cathedral – repainted for the occasion – at the end of the morning, the pope was able to listen to five local artists singing Terra corsa at the top of their lungs. Among them, the legendary Patrick Fiori and Alizée.
Alongside Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, at the origin of his visit to Corsica, the Pope even took the time to bless the child of Audrey and Emilien, who did not ask for so much. “We really feel warm in our hearts. We didn't expect it at all. We hadn't planned anything. He was sleeping, we put him on the grill, and there, a gentleman saw him and took him,” they testified to France Télévision.
In his famous “Papamobile”, Pope Francis took a long stroll through the streets of Ajaccio, where the sun rose early to welcome him.
After a conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”, then a prayer at Ajaccio Cathedral, the Pope gave an open-air mass in front of 9,000 people at the Casone green theater, under the statue of Napoleon.
France
