At 87 years old the Dad he is preparing to make the longest journey of his pontificate. Today the Holy See announced that Francis will travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore from 2 to 13 September. The choice of destinations still places the suburbs at the centre, as per leitmotif of the current pontificate. The bulletin of the Holy See Press Office explained that the Pope will be in Jakarta from 3 to 6 September, in Port Moresby and Vanimo from 6 to 9 September, in Dili from 9 to 11 September and in Singapore from 11 to 13 September.
“Cardinal” destinations
Although they are unusual destinations for an apostolic journey, Bergoglio will find a cardinal in each country of arrival. In Jakarta he will be welcomed by Cardinal Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, in Port Moresby by Cardinal Archbishop John Ribat, in East Timor by Salesian Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva and in Singapore by Cardinal Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye. For the moment it is not yet known the program of the trip which will be announced in due time by the Press Office of the Holy See, as specified today by the director Matteo Bruni.
Upcoming trips
In recent times his health has not been the best but Francesco continues to demonstrate great energy. In any case, the Pontiff does not intend to give up travel. At the end of April he will travel to Venice to visit the Holy See pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of Venice Biennale. The pavilion will be set up in the Giudecca women’s prison and is under the responsibility of Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça as prefect of the dicastery for culture and education.
But Francis will also meet the ecclesial community of the Patriarchate of Venice led by the theologian Monsignor Francesco Moraglia. The Pope then announced a trip to Belgium, probably in September. While the mystery continues to hover over the return to Argentina which Bergoglio himself had spoken about in some interviews and which according to some rumors he had stranded due to the election of the liberal president Javier Milei. It was said, in fact, that the economist was unwelcome to Francis, who was retaliated with heavy epithets during the election campaign. However in February the two were pictured in warm regards during the visit of the Argentine president for the canonization of María Antonia de San Giuseppe de Paz y Figueroa, famous among her compatriots as Mama Antula.
Health
In these first months of 2024 Francesco has had several times breathing problems and was forced to give up reading the speeches prepared for him at the hearing. Knee problems force him to move around in a wheelchair or with a cane. Last November the doctors convinced him to cancel the upcoming trip to Dubai for the COP28 on climate change which he was very keen on.
The Pope, in any case, appears determined not to give up traveling and has thus decided to set a commitment intercontinental flight of 30 hours and with a time zone of 9 which will take him to visit 4 different countries.
