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Pope Francis in Malta
Pope Francis departs Malta, bringing his two-day Apostolic Journey to the island nation to a close. Pope Francis has completed his long-awaited Apostolic Visit to the Mediterranean island of Malta, his 36th trip abroad and the first since 2022.
After a brief farewell ceremony at Malta’s International Airport in the presence of President George Vella and other dignitaries and delegations, the Air Malta Boeing bringing him back to the Vatican took off shortly after 7 p.m. local time.
The Pope’s visit has been postponed twice due to COVID restrictions. It provided him with numerous opportunities to reiterate his call to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate migrants, as evidenced by his meetings and words.
The island nation, strategically located in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, serves as a port of rescue and refuge for many people fleeing violence, climate change, persecution, and poverty on perilous journeys of hope toward Europe.
This is the fourth time a Pope has visited Malta. St. John Paul II visited twice (in 1990 and 2001), and Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2010 to commemorate the 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul’s shipwreck.
Throughout the journey, the Pope’s thoughts were never far from the suffering of those subjected to the violence of bombings and other attacks in Ukraine, and he repeatedly asked for prayers for peace. A meeting with officials at the Presidential Palace was one of the weekend’s highlights. During his speech on that occasion, he decried the war raging in Europe and warned that it could endanger all humanity.
Saturday, Pope Francis boarded a catamaran for Gozo, where he prayed at the Marian Shrine of Ta’Pinu. On Sunday, he celebrated Holy Mass for the people of Malta, 85 per cent of whom are Catholic. The Pope also visited Rabat’s Grotto of Saint Paul, prayed for peace and fraternity, and spent time with migrants at the “John XXIII Peace Lab” Migrant Center in Hal Far.
