Pope Francis’ one-day visit to the French island of Corsica on Sunday, two days before his 88th birthday, will put a dual focus on the Mediterranean, highlighting local traditions of popular piety on the one hand and migrant deaths and wars on the other.
The visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, will be one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron.
It is the first papal visit to the island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768 and is located closer to the Italian mainland than France.
Papa Francescu, the pope’s name in Corsican, will address more than 400 participants at the Conference on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean, organised by the bishop of Ajaccio, Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo.
The pope’s remarks will include reflections on local religious traditions, especially strongly held in Corsica, including the cult of the Virgin Mary, known locally as the Madonuccia, which protected the island from the plague in 1656 when it was still under Genoa.