Pope Francis may visit Malta at the end of November

Pope Francis may visit Malta at the end of November but no dates have been confirmed yet, MaltaToday has learnt.

Sources close to the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Vatican has so far not confirmed when the visit will happen.

It remains unclear whether the Malta visit will be combined with a visit to Cyprus, which according to a Cypriot government source will happen in December.

The Roman Catholic pontiff is expected to visit Cyprus on 2 and 3 December, according to a Cypriot government official who spoke anonymously with Associated Press news agency on Tuesday. Little else is known about the itinerary. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni did not confirm or deny the Cyprus trip.

“SOME trip hypotheses are understudy for the autumn but it’s premature to speak about them,” Bruni told AP, in what is a hint that more than one foreign trip is being considered in the period.

“The Malta plans so far are for end November although the Vatican has not confirmed the dates yet,” the sources in Malta said.

Pope Francis had to visit Malta in May last year but the trip was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit had included a stopover in Gozo.

Pope Francis will be the third pontiff to visit Malta after St John Paul II and pope emeritus Benedict XVI.

The first-ever papal visit took place in 1990 when pope St John Paul II was given a rousing welcome. He visited again in 2001 when he beatified Dun Gorg Preca, Sr Adeodata Pisani

and cleric Nazju Falzon during a ceremony on the Granaries in Floriana. Preca was made Malta’s first saint in 2007.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Malta in 2010 at the height of the clerical sex abuse scandal. The pope had even held a private audience with the Maltese victims of priestly sex abuse.