-“We ask you to kindly try to visit Malta.”
-“It's on the agenda! It's on the agenda!”
-“The people of Malta look forward to your visit.”
-“It's on the agenda.”
This is what Pope Francis told Malta's minister of Tourism last June. Months later, the country's prime minister visited the Pope, and now the Vatican has officially announced that Pope Francis will travel to Malta this April 2 and 3. The details of the trip have yet to be released, but for the moment the Vatican has confirmed that he will visit the capital city of Valletta, Rabat, Floriana, and the island of Gozo.
They are sites closely tied to the island's history and the travels of Saint Paul.
It will be a longer trip than what was planned for in 2020, and which was eventually canceled due to the pandemic. Then, Pope Francis only planned to spend one day in the island nation.
It will be the Pope's first trip in 2022, and the fourth visit to the country by a pope. John Paul II was there in 1990 and 2001, and Benedict XVI in 2010.
JRB
TR: JM
