ROME — Pope Francis is set to visit the Mediterranean island of Corsica on December 15, marking yet another trip to France that notably bypasses the capital city and the associated formalities of a traditional state visit.
The Vatican confirmed that this one-day visit will take place in the French island’s capital, Ajaccio, as the Pope concludes a diocesan conference focused on popular piety.
Although Francis is scheduled to meet President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival at the airport before returning to Rome, the decision to forgo a visit to Paris is viewed as a subtle rebuke to the French leader. Macron had previously invited the Pope to participate in the grand reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral that took place the weekend prior.
In September, the Pope made it clear he would not take part in the ceremony, explicitly stating, “I won’t go to Paris,” after media reported he would attend the December 8 event following the cathedral’s significant restoration after the catastrophic fire in 2019.
Francis later revealed a packed schedule at the Vatican for that weekend, which includes presiding over a consistory for new cardinals on December 7 and participating in a commemorative mass on December 8 honoring the Virgin Mary.
The upcoming event in Corsica appears to align more closely with Francis’ agenda of supporting the “church of the peripheries.” This visit will focus on concluding a conference centered around “popular piety in the Mediterranean.”
This emphasis on local communities echoes his earlier trip to Marseille in 2023, where he took part in a gathering of Mediterranean bishops. His prior visit to France, during the early days of his papacy, was a single-day excursion to Strasbourg on November 25, 2014, where he addressed both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
With a population exceeding 340,000 and a part of France since 1768, Corsica has experienced pro-independence violence and is home to a strong nationalist sentiment. Last year, Macron suggested offering the island some degree of autonomy.
Pope Francis has expressed a desire to focus on smaller Catholic communities situated on the outskirts, rather than the major centers of Christianity. Consequently, his international travels have often avoided large European capitals in favor of visiting churches located in less affluent regions of the world.