Vatican confirms papal trip to Greece, Cyprus in December

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis volition question to Greece and the eastbound Mediterranean land federation of Cyprus connected a five-day travel adjacent month, the Vatican confirmed Friday.

The pope volition sojourn Larnaca, Cyprus, from Dec. 2-4, earlier traveling to Greece, with stops successful Athens and connected the land of Lesbos, from Dec. 4-6. The Vatican released nary further details of the trip.

The Cyprus limb had already been confirmed by Cypriot officials, who said that the pontiff volition clasp talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. Francis volition beryllium the 2nd Roman Catholic pontiff ever to question to the eastbound Mediterranean land nation.

Francis traveled antecedently to Lesbos successful 2016 to item the plight of refugees. He brought with him 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter level aft an affectional visit. The Greek land conscionable a fewer miles from the Turkish seashore has received hundreds of thousands of hopeless radical fleeing warfare and poverty.