Monday, 3 October 2016

Pope Francis in 2017: Portugal, India, Bangladesh, Colombia, Africa

Pope_Francis_at_the_general_audience_in_St_Peters_Square_on_Dec_16_2015_Credit_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA.jpg
Pope Francis will visit Portugal in 2017 and is "almost sure" he'll go to India and Bangladesh.
Still to be determined is where in Africa he'll visit and whether Colombia's peace accord is "certain, certain, certain" enough to enable a papal visit.
Francis outlined his 2017 travel plans while flying home from Azerbaijan on Sunday. Complicating his travel schedule is that 2017 is already full of appointments with visiting bishops whose 2016 visits were put off due to Francis' Holy Year of Mercy, which ends in November.
But Francis confirmed that as of now, he planned a May 13 trip to the famed Marian shrine at Fatima in Portugal.
India and Bangladesh were planned as well and an Africa trip was under study. The destination depends on weather conditions, time of year and regional political and conflict situations, he said.
Francis had said previously he would visit Colombia if the government and rebels reached a peace accord. Colombians voted on Sunday in a referendum to enshrine the accord ending Latin America's longest-running conflict.
Francis said he would go to Colombia "when everything is certain, certain, certain, when they can't go back, when the international community has agreed that no one can make a (legal) recourse, that it's finished. If it's like that, I could go. If it's unstable? It all depends on what the people say. The people are sovereign."
One place Francis likely won't be going is China.

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