He arrived in Corsica shortly before 9 a.m., welcomed by the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau and a small group of children, to the sound of Corsican music, on the tarmac of Ajaccio airport. Pope Francis is making a historic visit to France this Sunday, December 15. The sovereign pontiff must take a walkabout in a popemobile on the seafront before going to the convention center to close a conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”, then a prayer at the cathedral at 11:20 a.m. and 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 p.m., according to the Holy See, after an interview at the airport with Emmanuel Macron.
This is the first time that a sovereign pontiff has traveled to the Isle of Beauty. This visit was announced late, at the end of November, forcing us to work extra hard to accommodate the tens of thousands of people expected. Yellow and white banners (the papal colors) in the streets, the facade of the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption cathedral repainted, massive parking bans, 2,200 reinforcements of the police deployed for security: the city has prepared. “An exceptional event, exceptional organization. […] This event of an important spiritual and cultural nature […] is also the visit of a head of state to France, who will be welcomed by the authorities of the Republic”, said Jérôme Filippiniprefect of Corsica.
“We will achieve a welcome worthy of the Pope”
Despite recent health problems, Jorge Bergoglio has appeared in good shape in recent months. The Pope was invited to Corsica by Mgr François-Xavier Bustillo, 56 years old, very popular and media-friendly bishop of Ajaccio, whom he had created cardinal in September 2023. “The diocese is poor, the Corsica region is not rich “but thanks to the generosity of businesses and the faithful “we will achieve a welcome worthy of the Pope,” he told AFP.
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. The head of the Catholic Church has 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 trip to Corsica, a French region benefiting from the status of a single local authority and whose degree of autonomy is currently being discussed between the State and local elected officials, is his 47th international trip since his election and the third in 2024.
This lightning visit comes a week after the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, for which Francis declined the invitation launched by France last year. His absence moved part of the French Catholic community and offended the top of the State which did not appreciate the refusal to accept Emmanuel Macron’s invitation, while many personalities and leaders of the world had made the trip.