Pope Francis to visit Corsica on 15 December

By Lisa Zengarini

The director of the Holy See's Press Office, Matteo Bruni, announced on Saturday that Pope Francis will travel to the French island of Corsica on 15 December, marking his 47th Apostolic Journey abroad and the first-ever visit of a Pope to the French Mediterranean island.

The Pope has been invited there by local civil and Church authorities to close an international Conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean organized in Ajaccio, the island’s capital, by the local diocese.

A crossroad of cultures

Corsica is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean after Cyprus, though it has only one-fourth of its population, and is known for being the homeland of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of history's most prominent figures.

A mountainous territory off the western coast of Italy and the southern coast of France, Corsica has been at the crossroads of various Mediterranean cultures and powers over centuries, including the Papacy, the Italian Republics of Pisa and Genoa, and, finally, France, which annexed the island in 1769 after a fierce resistance from the Corsican independentists.

The island, which has long been scarcely populated and mostly characterized by a rural and pastoral economy, is known for its natural beauty that has attracted tourism, now an important sector of its economy.

Due to the Italian cultural influence and its community-based social structure, Corsica has retained a distinctive cultural and linguistic identity, with ongoing discussions about autonomy and cultural preservation.

The contribution of the Catholic faith  to Corsican identity

The Diocese of Ajaccio covers the entire territory of Corsica and is presently suffragan to the Archdiocese of Marseille in France. The Diocese is headed today by Spanish-born Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, O.F.M.Conv., and in 2022 numbered 277,000 Catholics, representing 81.5% of the population of 340,000.

Catholicism has held an important place in Corsican society and has contributed to shaping its distinctive cultural identity. This is evidenced by the many churches scattered throughout its numerous inland villages and its deep-rooted popular devotions, as well as its long-standing tradition of confraternities.

Corsican people are known for having a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Corsican national anthem, “Diu vi Salvi Regina,” (God Save You, O Queen) is dedicated to her.

Religious festivals, processions, and pilgrimages continue to punctuate Corsican social life today, despite urbanization and the socio-economic changes of recent decades.

The Conference on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean

These religious traditions will be the focus of the two-day Conference in Ajaccio, running from 14-15 December.

The venue will bring together representatives of local Catholic communities from France, Italy, and Spain to share the richness of faith of Corsican popular religiosity with similar traditions in other regions of the Mediterranean, including Sicily and Sardinia, and discuss its potential for evangelization in a context of growing secularization.

The programme of the visit 

According to the schedule released by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis will depart from Rome Fiumicino International Airport at 7:45 am on Sunday, arriving at 9:00 am at Ajaccio International  Airport, where the official welcome ceremony will take place.

At 10.15 he will be at the “Palais des Congrès et d’Exposition d’Ajaccio”  to address the  participants in the Conference.

After his speech he will move to the city’s Cathedral of Holy Mary of the Assumption to meet with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and seminarians, and pray the Angelus with them. There he is expected to give his second speech.

At 3:30 pm Pope Francis will preside at Mass in the “Place d’Austerlitz,” the large park known as “U Casone,” named after an old building that once stood there. The square hosts a large statue of Napoleon.

After Mass,  at 5:30 pm, the Pope will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron at Ajaccio Airport before departing at 6:15 pm for Rome Fiumicino Airoport where he is expected  to land at 7:05. pm.

The motto and logo 

The motto of the Apostolic Journey is “Jésus passa en faisant le bien” ("He went about doing good", Acts 10:38), a passage from the Acts of the Apostles, which recalls that the Pope visits the Church in Corsica like the Shepherd who goes to His people. 

The logo of the visit features, on the top left, a stylized map of Corsica in vertical blue lines on a green-blue background representing the sea. The highest line culminates in the shape of a cross, to symbolize the faith in Christ, and is tied to a yellow line that descends from above, alluding to the Holy Spirit.

In the lower part, in the same blue colour, is a silhouette of the Madonna, Queen of Corsica. She is depicted from the hips up with her face and hands turned upwards and, given the background, appears as if she is immersed in the sea.

The title of the visit, in yellow on the right, reads “Papa Francescu in Corsica” (Pope Francis in Corsica) in the Corsican language, while the motto, also in yellow, is in French.

The Apostolic Journey to Corsica will be Pope Francis’ third visit in French territory after the visits to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 2014 and to Marseille for the Mediterranean Encounters in 2023.