Pope Francis to visit French island of Corsica on Dec. 15
Updates story published Nov. 22 to change attribution in first paragraph to the Vatican; adds details of initial announcement in paragraph 4
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) -Pope Francis will visit Corsica on Dec. 15, the Vatican said on Saturday, the first recorded trip of a pope to the French Mediterranean island.
The short visit to the island's capital Ajaccio, where Francis is expected to speak at a conference on popular religiosity across the Mediterranean region, will be his47th foreign trip since becoming pope in 2013.
Corsica, noted for its steep, mountainous terrain and as the birthplace of Napoleon, is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean. It is one of France's poorest regions, whereabout 20% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to government figures.
Corsica's local diocesefirst disclosed news of the one-day visit on its website on Friday, an announcement which the Vatican did not immediately confirm, although the trip is known to have been in preparation for weeks.
Francis has made two prior visits to France, travelling to Strasbourg in 2014 to address the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, and to Marseilles in 2023 to attend a meeting of bishops.
But the pope, who turns 88 on Dec. 17, has never made a full state visit to France, an historic stronghold of Catholicismthat is now widely secular and home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
French President Emmanuel Macron invited Francis to come to Paris for the Dec. 8 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, but the pope will be leading a ceremony at the Vatican that day to install new Catholic cardinals.
Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, originally from Spain, has led the Catholic Church in Corsica since 2021. Francis made him a cardinal, the highest rank in the Church below pope, in 2023.
The Vatican estimates that 81.5% of Corsica'spopulation of 356,000 is Catholic.
Francis has travelled widely around the Mediterranean over his 11-year papacy, visiting Malta, the Greek island of Lesbos and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Additional reporting by Valentina Za;
Editing by Alvise Armellini, Peter Graff and Giles Elgood
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