Pope Francis News: Busy Pontiff to Visit Three South American Nations Soon
This summer Pope Francis will be stopping by three Latin American countries, and by the looks of his schedule, he will be totally occupied.
Officials of the catholic church have just announced that the pontiff’s upcoming trip to the nations of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay is set for July 6-12.
The pope’s itinerary is tight. Francis is set to arrive in Quito on July 6, whereupon he will meet with President Rafael Correa that very day. According to The Associated Press, Rev. Luis Cabrera, the archbishop of Cuenca, has announced that the next day he will say Mass in Quito's Bicentennial Park.
From there, Cabrera said, Francis will go on to meet on with educators and the public on July 7, before consulting with priests and seminarians on July 8 at the Quinche shrine located near Quito.
The 78-year-old Francis will then fly to La Paz that afternoon. Officials have stipulated that due to Bolivia’s altitude Francis will spend a mere six hours in Bolivia's capital. Francis will say Mass at the capital's sister city of El Alto.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to offer any details, officials said Francis would spend two days in the eastern lowlands city of Santa Cruz. The details regarding his Paraguay stay were not immediately available.
After his Latin American tour, Francis is set to travel to the United States in September. And at the end of 2015 he plans to visit the Central African Republic and Uganda.
Plans for 2016 are already being made as Francis has stated that he hopes to visit his native Argentina, as well as Chile and Uruguay.
Trips to Peru and Mexico are up next, and then in 2017 he has said he will make a return trip to Brazil.
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