Pope Francis is traveling to Corsica on Sunday for his first visit to the Isle of Beauty.
Follow the full coverage
Pope Francis in Ajaccio, the first visit by a sovereign pontiff to Corsica
A few days after snubbing the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, Pope Francis visits France. The sovereign pontiff goes to Corsica on Sunday, December 16, for his first visit to the Isle of Beauty, where the Catholic faithful remain numerous and fervent. For this trip, Pope Francis is going to Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica. He should arrive around 9 a.m. and leave shortly after 6 p.m., according to the Holy See.
Minute by minute
THE POPE’S PROGRAM
The Catholic faithful are expected in large numbers in the streets of Ajaccio for a day where the sovereign pontiff will combine a stroll in a popemobile and an open-air mass before an interview with President Macron.
A week after the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, where the Pope did not go despite the invitation of the Head of State, Francis will be welcomed at 9:00 a.m. at the city airport with children’s songs in Corsica. He will then enjoy a walkabout in a popemobile on the seafront of Ajaccio, the main city of this Mediterranean island of 350,000 inhabitants, 80% of whom are Catholic, according to the Vatican.
Then, the pope will go to the convention center to close a conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”, before a mass at 3:30 p.m. which should bring together 9,000 people at the Casone green theater. He will leave shortly after 6:00 p.m., according to the Holy See, after an interview at the airport with Emmanuel Macron.
HELLO EVERYONE
Hello everyone and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the visit of Pope Francis to Corsica, this Sunday.
This lightning visit, on the occasion of a congress on popular piety in the Mediterranean, comes a week after the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, for which Francis declined the invitation launched by France last year . The pope was invited to Corsica by Mgr François-Xavier Bustillo, 56, very popular and media-friendly bishop of Ajaccio since 2021, whom he had created cardinal in September 2023.
-
Read also
“What do you mean, a papal chair?” : when craftsmen realize that they are working for the pope’s visit to Corsica
The Argentine Jesuit, who will celebrate his 88th birthday two days after this trip, will deliver two speeches and preside over a mass in the afternoon at the Casone green theater. The sovereign pontiff must also enjoy a walkabout in a popemobile in the streets of the main city of this island of 350,000 inhabitants, 90% of whom are Catholic, according to the local Church. From Malta to Sicily via the Greek island of Lesbos, Francis has visited the Mediterranean basin on several occasions, which concentrates several priorities of his pontificate, such as interreligious dialogue or the reception of migrants.
But this is the first time that a pope has visited Corsica, a French region benefiting from the status of a single territorial collectivity and whose degree of autonomy is currently being discussed between the State and local elected officials.
Canada
