Pope Francis begins four-day trip to the Mediterranean
Pope Francis, December 1, 2021, at the Vatican.
REUTERS - YARA NARDI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Pope Francis is expected this Thursday, December 2 in Cyprus, then in Greece on Saturday where he will make his 35th apostolic journey since his election.
A four-day trip that will take him to predominantly Orthodox land, to Nicosia, Athens and to the island of Lesbos, where he will meet migrants again.
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With our correspondent in Rome,
Éric Sénanque
From Lampedusa to Rabat via Lesbos, this new trip confirms the importance of the Mediterranean area in the pontificate of the Argentine Pope.
“
The Mediterranean has a particular vocation: it is the sea of interbreeding, culturally always open to encounter, dialogue and reciprocal inculturation.
"
These words, Pope Francis spoke them in Bari, February 23, 2020 during a meeting with the Bishops of the Mediterranean.
Words that could still resonate in the coming days in Cyprus and Greece.
Over the course of his pontificate, attention to the Mediterranean area has become one of his priorities for Francis.
Whether in Morocco or already in Greece in 2016, the Pope has never ceased to recall how much part of the geostrategic balance of the world is at stake in this region.
It is first of all the route of so many migrations, often
deadly
, between South and North, East and West.
It is then, in the eyes of the Pope, a space where cultures and religions are called to meet and dialogue.
"The Mediterranean moves away but it also brings together"
Coming to the Vatican last spring, the Archbishop of Marseille had confided that the Pope considered his city as "
the gateway
" to a possible trip to France. "
The Mediterranean moves away but it also brings closer
" confided, this Wednesday, the Secretary of State of the Holy See, estimating that one of the stakes of this trip was to transform "
this space which divides into an opportunity of meetings
". Words spoken on the eve of François' departure for Nicosia, the last city in Europe still cut in two.
The next stage of what some call the Pope's “Mediterranean pilgrimage” will take place on February 27 in the city of Florence.
François is expected there for a conference bringing together dozens of mayors and bishops from around the Mediterranean.
► To read also: In his Sunday prayer of the Angelus, the Pope again evokes migrants
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