By Joshua McElwee
AJACCIO, France (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday urged Catholic monks to protect towards religious teams that stoke political divisions, talking throughout a day-long go to to Corsica, the primary by a pontiff on this French Mediterranean island.
At a convention on faith throughout the Mediterranean, the pontiff warned towards kinds of spirituality that “search self-aggrandizement by fueling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and attitudes exclusivists.
“The pastors of the Church (are) referred to as to be vigilant, to train discernment and to be consistently attentive to (these) in style types of religiosity,” the pope stated.
Francis, who’s making his third and sure closing journey overseas in 2024, didn’t cite any particular non secular group.
Corsica, like a lot of France, has an extended historical past of lay Catholic associations, referred to as brotherhoods. They typically concentrate on religious points however typically play a job in native politics.
The pope will spend about 9 hours on Sunday in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica. After attending the convention, he’ll have a good time an open-air mass with native Catholics and also will meet French President Emmanuel Macron.
Visiting locations that always do not entice worldwide consideration is a part of Francis’ coverage of highlighting folks and points in what he calls the “peripheries” of the world. Throughout his eleven years as preach, he nonetheless has not visited most Western European capitals, together with Paris.
Macron had invited Francis to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral on December 7, 5 years after a devastating fireplace nearly destroyed the medieval constructing. The pope determined to not go and the 2 will meet briefly at Ajaccio airport on Sunday earlier than Francis returns to Rome.
AT 88 YEARS OLD TUESDAY
As is now regular, Francis, who turns 88 on Tuesday, left his aircraft upon arrival in Corsica by way of an elevator and used a wheelchair to greet officers on the tarmac.
On a quick trip in an open popemobile from the airport, the pope waved to crowds on the street and appeared in good condition, though he nonetheless had a small bruise on his chin, the results of what the Vatican described as a minor fall. in his room final week.
Corsica, well-known for its steep and mountainous terrain and for being the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, is the fourth largest island within the Mediterranean. It is without doubt one of the poorest areas in France, the place round 20% of the inhabitants lives under the poverty line, based on authorities figures.
The Vatican estimates that about 81 % of Corsica’s 356,000 inhabitants are Catholic. There are 83 monks on the island and round thirty Catholic nuns, it’s stated.
Francis, a local of Argentina and the primary pope of the Americas, has traveled extensively across the Mediterranean since changing into pontiff in 2013, visiting Malta, the Greek island of Lesbos and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
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