Travels: Africa and the return to Europe

The first trip came at the end of November to Turkey and Lebanon, a pilgrimage Francis was very fond of. In particular to Turkey to experience in Íznik, present-day Nicea, the celebrations of the 1700th anniversary of the Council, and then to fly to Lebanon to give a caress to people exhausted by war, crisis, poverty and emigration. That too was a pilgrimage - from 27 November to 2 December - that relaunched the ecumenical path, with the many meetings with Patriarch Bartholomew, and offered opportunities for dialogue with the leaders of other religions and provided precious snapshots. Among them, the Pope in silent prayer in front of the devastation of the port of Beirut, scene of the 2020 explosion, or the Pope immersed in the collective embrace of 15 thousand young Lebanese and others in Bkerké. Then - after the lightning mission in the Principality of Monaco, a "strange journey" as it was defined - came the long one in Africa, four countries visited - the first was Algeria, dedicated to the visit to the homeland of Saint Augustine - in the midst of queues and audiences of thousands of faithful in celebration despite the torrid heat or tropical downpours_ Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. In particular, the appeal for justice - the 'true' one that corrects and heals - pronounced in the prison of Bata, in Equatorial Guinea, in front of 630 inmates in the rain. And again, pleas and invocations on the equitable distribution of resources and integral development in Angola sprinkled with oil and full of diamond deposits where, however, 50% of the population lives in absolute poverty. Soon the trip to Spain and the Canary Islands, which will mark the return of a pontiff to the historical heart of Europe, which Francis had deliberately ignored, always preferring destinations in the global south (perhaps in September he will go to France). For now, the United States is not on the radar, both because in November there is a mid-term vote and because perhaps the time is not ripe given the political tensions, which despite the meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have not disappeared.