Pope Francis heads to Trieste in Italy to meet migrants

Pope Francis blesses the crowd from the windows of the apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s square, during the Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican on June 30, 2024. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis travels to Trieste in Italy’s northeast on Sunday in a quick visit to meet migrants and celebrate an open-air mass ahead of a 12-day trip to Asia — the longest of his papacy.

After Venice in April and Verona in May, the half-day trip to Trieste marks the third one within Italy this year for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.

Since traveling to the French city of Marseille in September 2023, the Argentine Jesuit has limited himself to domestic travel.

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But he plans to spend nearly two weeks in Asia in September visiting Indonesia, Singapore and the islands of Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

In Trieste, a city of 200,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic Sea that borders Slovenia, the pope is due to arrive by helicopter at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) on Sunday.

He is set to deliver a first speech at the city’s convention centre to close a national Catholic event, in the presence of local authorities and the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi.

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He will meet with various groups from the religious and academic spheres, along with migrants and the disabled.

The papal visit is due to conclude with a mass in the city’s main public square before he departs for the Vatican in the early afternoon.