POPE FRANCIS ARRIVES CYPRUS, IS SECOND POPE TO VISIT

As you probably know, at 3pm today, local time, Pope Francis landed in Cyprus for the start of a 5-day trip to Cyprus and Greece. Pope Benedict XVI visited this island in June 2010.

Yesterday, as is his habit before an apostolic trip, the Holy Father went to St. Mary Major basilica to pray for the successful outcome of his trip before the beloved image of Salus populi romani. The Vatican provided a photo:

This morning, before leaving the Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, Pope Francis greeted about 12 refugees accompanied by the papal almsgiver, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski. The migrants, now residing in Italy, are from Syria, Congo, Somalia and Afghanistan. They had spent some transitional time in the Lesbos camp that Pope Francis had visited in 2016 and when they arrived Rome they were welcomed and cared for by the Sant'Egidio Community. Among them, some had come to Rome with the Pope on the papal plane from the Greek island of Lesbos in 2016.

After leaving the Vatican, enroute to the airport, the Pope stopped at the parish of Santa Maria degli Angeli near Fiumicino Airport, where he prayed in front of the image of Our Lady of Loreto and met about 15 refugees hosted from the parish. Our Lady of Loreto is the patron saint of pilots and airline workers.

Francis today travelled for the first time on the new Italian state airline ITA, after the demise in October of Alitalia, the national airline that had accompanied popes on trips for decades. Written on the side of the plane in large lettering were the words "Born in 2021!"

Aboard the plane, press office director Matteo Bruni told the Pope that the 77 journalists accompanying him, including 7 from Cyprus and Greece, were happy to be travelling with him again, to which Francis replied: "Thank you! Good morning and thank you very much for your company. It is a beautiful journey, and we will also touch some sores. I hope we can all welcome all the messages we find. Thank you very much for your company!"

After a private welcome ceremony Thursday afternoon at Larnaca airport, the Holy Father went to the capital of Nicosia where he met with religious, deacons, catechists and ecclesial associations and movements in the Maronite cathedral of Our Lady of Graces.   The Maronites have been on Cyprus since 686. At 6 pm local time (Cyprus is one hour ahead of Rome), the Pope went to the presidential palace for a meeting with civil authorities and members of the diplomatic corps.

(All segments of the papal trip can be followed online at the Vatican site News from the Vatican - News about the Church - Vatican News This includes live video during an event. Tomorrow's schedule includes: 8:30 am COURTESY VISIT TO THE ORTHODOX ARCHBISHOP OF CYPRUS CHRYSOSTOMOS II at the Orthodox Archbishopric of Cyprus; 9 am, MEETING WITH THE HOLY SYNOD at the Orthodox Cathedral in Nicosia; 10 am, MASS at the "GSP Stadium" in Nicosia and, at 4 pm, ECUMENICAL PRAYER WITH MIGRANTS at the parish church of the Holy Cross in Nicosia. Calculate the time difference between where you live and the local time in Cyprus and Greece. EWTN will be transmitting a number of events)