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 Travels of Pope Francis, 2022 Scott 1841 (2023) Each year, Vatican City issues either a stamp or set of stamps to document foreign trips made by the pope during the previous year. The most recent issue, from 2023 and shown above, focused on Pope Francis’s travels in 2022 to Malta, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Bahrain. Flying somewhat under the radar, at least for those of us outside of Italy, are the pastoral trips made during the year to cities or venues within the country. In early 2024, Pope Francis, although clearly more feeble and less ambulatory than in the past, has maintained a busy schedule of pastoral visits. Here is a quick review of both his completed and upcoming trips during the first half of 2024.  Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Venice Scott 1693 (2018) For his brief but packed visit to Venice, the Pope arrived by helicopter and landed inside the walls of the women's prison on Giudecca Island, the site of the Venice Art Biennial, a major international contemporary art exhibition. His appearance marked the first time a Pope has ever visited the event. While at the prison, he also met with some of the inmates and presented them with an iconic image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Following his visit, the Pope was transported by patrol boat across the Venice canal to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, where he met a throng of young people. He then traveled on his “Popemobile” to St. Mark's Square, a short trip requiring passage over a temporary bridge created upon a group of boats. Mass was celebrated in St. Mark's Square, and the trip concluded with the pope’s paying homage to the relics of Saint Mark inside the great Venetian basilica bearing his name. The Vatican News link reviewing the pope's trip to Venice, found in the references below, includes a video report on his visit.  Piazza San Zeno, Verona Vatican Post Cards, 2003 The Holy Father arrived in Verona by helicopter at the Bentegodi Stadium. He then proceeded to the Basilica of San Zeno, where he addressed priests and consecrated religious. Following his address, Pope Francis moved to an adjoining piazza, where an estimated 5,000 people, mainly children and young people, greeted him. He engaged in a question-and-answer period, following which Pope Francis highlighted the importance of the day’s theme of peace with the following exchange: Pope Francis: “There are many wars, many wars, both in Ukraine and in the Holy Land, in Africa, in Myanmar... many, many wars. Does Jesus preach war or peace?”Pope Francis then traveled to Verona’s first-century Roman amphitheater where, before a crowd of around 10,000 people, he responded to a series of questions on the environment, migration, and economic development. The final stop for the pope was a meeting with inmates at Verona’s Montorio prison, where he reminded his audience: “God forgives everything, and he always forgives.”  Saint Nicholas of Bari Scott 1734 (2020) Later this week, Pope Francis will attend the G7 Summit taking place in southern Italian region of Apulia. Italy is serving as the host country for this year’s meeting, and the pope accepted an invitation to participate from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. This will be the first time a pope has addressed the conference. Pope Francis will participate in a session focusing on the future of artificial intelligence. The pope’s visit to Trieste in early July is planned to coincide with the 50th Social Week of Italian Catholics. The meeting’s location, the city of Trieste, is the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Trieste sits in the northeast corner of Italy, across a stretch of the Adriatic Sea from Venice and abutting the country of Slovenia. Prior to this year, the Holy Father had only made two pastoral visits within Italy since 2020, primarily due to restrictions during the years of the COVID pandemic. In 2020, he had visited Bari, and on August 28, 2022, he visited L'Aquila. By comparison, in both 2018 and 2019, he had five trips each year within Italy. Currently, Pope Francis has two foreign trips on his calendar for 2024. He will be visiting the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor), and Singapore from September 2 to 13. Two weeks later, he will be off to Luxembourg and Belgium for a three-day trip from September 26 to 29. REFERENCES: |
