Pope Francis, in Corsica, warns in opposition to faith that stokes divisions By Reuters

By Joshua McElwee

AJACCIO, France (Reuters) – Pope Francis urged Catholic clergymen on Sunday to protect in opposition to non secular teams that stoke political divisions, talking throughout a one-day go to to Corsica, the primary by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

At a convention on faith throughout the Mediterranean, the pontiff warned in opposition to types of spirituality that “search self-aggrandisement by fuelling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and exclusivist attitudes”.

“The Church’s pastors (are) referred to as to be vigilant, to train discernment and to be continuously attentive to (these) well-liked types of religiosity,” the pope mentioned.

Francis, making his third and possibly final overseas journey of 2024, didn’t title any particular spiritual teams.

Corsica, like a lot of France, has a protracted historical past of lay Catholic associations, generally known as confraternities. They normally concentrate on non secular issues however typically play a task in native politics.

The pope will spend about 9 hours in Ajaccio, Corsica’s capital, on Sunday. After attending the convention, he’ll rejoice an outside Mass with native Catholics and also will meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

Visiting locations that usually don’t draw worldwide consideration is a part of Francis’ coverage of highlighting folks and issues in what he calls the “peripheries” of the world. Over his 11-year papacy he has nonetheless not visited many of the capitals of Western Europe, together with Paris.

Macron had invited Francis to attend the Dec. 7 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, 5 years after a devastating hearth practically destroyed the medieval constructing. The pope determined to not go, and the 2 will as a substitute meet briefly at Ajaccio’s airport on Sunday earlier than Francis heads again to Rome.

TURNS 88 ON TUESDAY

As is now regular, Francis, who turns 88 on Tuesday, left his airplane on arrival in Corsica by way of an elevator and used a wheelchair whereas greeting officers on the tarmac.

Throughout a short trip in an open-air popemobile from the airport, the pope waved at crowds on the road and appeared on good kind, although he nonetheless has a small bruise on his chin, the results of what the Vatican described as a minor fall in his bed room final week.

Corsica, famed for its steep, mountainous terrain and because the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, is the fourth largest island within the Mediterranean. It’s one in all France’s poorest areas, the place about 20% of the inhabitants lives under the poverty line, in line with authorities figures.

The Vatican estimates that about 81% of Corsica’s inhabitants of 356,000 is Catholic. There are 83 clergymen on the island and a few 30 Catholic nuns, it says.

Francis, initially from Argentina and the primary pope from the Americas, has travelled extensively across the Mediterranean since changing into pontiff in 2013, visiting Malta, the Greek island of Lesbos, and the Italian island of Lampedusa.