The Holy Father's tenth international Apostolic Voyage began this morning. It will take him to Cuba and the United States of America where he will visit the offices of the United Nations and participate in the International Meeting of Families that is taking place in Philadelphia.
The aircraft carrying the Holy Father (an Alitalia A330) departed from the Leonardo da Vinci international airport in Rome-Fumicino at 10:32am local time today.
The expected arrival at the José Martí international airport in La Habana is estimated at 4:00pm local time, following a twelve-hour flight.
At the moment when he left the territory of Italy, destined for Cuba, the Holy Father, Pope Francis sent the following message to the Honorable Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic:
To His Excellency
the Honorable Sergio Mattarella
President of the Italian Republic
Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Rome
At the moment in which I am preparing for my pastoral visit to Cuba and to the United States, motivated by a desire to meet my brothers and sisters in the faith and the inhabitants of those nations, I am pleased to extend to you, Mister President and to al the Italian people, the expression of my sincere greetings along with my cordial wishes for peace and prosperity.
Francis
The flight from Rome to Cuba passed through French, Spanish and Portuguese airspace on its way. The Holy Father therefore sent the following telegrams to the Heads of State of those countries:
His Excellency, François Hollande
President of the French Republic
Paris
As I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit, I send cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens. I pray that Almighty God may bless you all with peace and prosperity, as I invoke divine blessings upon the nation.
Francis
His Majesty, King Felipe VI
Kingdom of Spain
Madrid
I extend cordial greetings to Your Majesty and the Spanish people as I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit. Invoking the blessing of Almighty God upon the nation, I pray that He may grant you peace and prosperity.
Francis
His Excellency, Anibal Cavaco Silva
President of the Portuguese Republic
Lisbon
Upon entering Portuguese airspace, I extend cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens. I pray that Almighty God may bless the nation with peace and well-being, as I invoke upon you the blessing of Almighty God.
Francis
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
Washington
As I fly over the airspace of the United States on my way to Cuba, I send cordial greetings to you, Mister President, and to your fellow citizens. Anticipating with joy my visit to the United States, I invoke divine blessings upon you all, and I pray that peace and well-being may flourish in the nation.
Francis
Her Excellency, Dame Marguerite Pindling
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Nassau
I send cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens as I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit. Invoking divine blessings upon you all, I ask Almighty God to grant the nation well-being and peace.
Francis
During the flight to Cuba, Pope Francis spoke with journalists who are accompanying him, as is his custom. Introduced by a word from the Director of the Holy See Press Centre, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Pope offered a few words to the journalists.
Parole del Santo Padre ai giornalisti durante il volo verso Cuba
Introduction by Father Lombardi
Holy Father, welcome. We are once again aboard a flight to begin a great apostolic voyage. As you know, there are great expectations for this trip. Already in recent days, in fact in recent weeks, there has been a lot of news coverage about this voyage: shall we say - more than usual compared with other trips. And on the ground, there are thousands of accredited journalists waiting in all the places where you will be travelling. Here, we are 76: we had more than 140 requests to be present on this flight, and we had to restrict the number. But other colleagues are following attentively, of course from various places where we will be visiting. The community that is here present, as usual, represents various languages and countries. However, you will understand that this time there is a particularly large number of journalists from the United States. About a third of my colleagues here present represent television, newspapers and various agencies from the United States: more than 20 of the 76. But, we also have one Cuban among us, whose name is Rosa Miriam Elizalde: there she is. You can greet her later. So, we welcome you among us. We assure you that we are following this trip with great attention, knowing that it is of great importance for the entire world: you will have a chance to give messages for peace in all nations, in situations that are exceptional. If you would like, you can say a few words of introduction before you meet the team ... Thank you very much!
Holy Father:
Thank you for your welcome! Good morning! I wish you a good trip and good work. If I am not mistaken, I believe that this is the longest trip that I have taken, one day longer than the one to Brazil ... You worked hard then! I thank you very much, for the work that you did and that you are doing. Father Lombardi said one word: peace. I believe that today the world is thirsty for peace. There are wars, migrants who are fleeing, this wave of immigration that is coming from the war, fleeing from death, in order to seek life ... Today, I am so emotional because at the Casa Santa Marta, the members of one of the two families who are at the parish of Saint Ann in the Vatican were waiting to greet me, the refugee family ... I saw in their faces all the suffering that they have endured! This word: peace ... I thank you for all that you are doing in your work to build bridges: little bridges, small ones, but even a small bridge and another one, and another one, and another one, eventually they will make up a large bridge of peace.
Have a good trip, work hard. Pray for me. Thank you.
One more thing, which Father Lombardi said, and which one of you pointed out to me: it is only proper that I should say, and send a greeting to all your colleagues who at this very moment are working, working in the offices.
The aircraft carrying the Holy Father (an Alitalia A330) departed from the Leonardo da Vinci international airport in Rome-Fumicino at 10:32am local time today.
The expected arrival at the José Martí international airport in La Habana is estimated at 4:00pm local time, following a twelve-hour flight.
At the moment when he left the territory of Italy, destined for Cuba, the Holy Father, Pope Francis sent the following message to the Honorable Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic:
Telegram of His Holiness, Pope Francis
To His Excellency
the Honorable Sergio Mattarella
President of the Italian Republic
Palazzo del Quirinale
00187 Rome
At the moment in which I am preparing for my pastoral visit to Cuba and to the United States, motivated by a desire to meet my brothers and sisters in the faith and the inhabitants of those nations, I am pleased to extend to you, Mister President and to al the Italian people, the expression of my sincere greetings along with my cordial wishes for peace and prosperity.
Francis
The flight from Rome to Cuba passed through French, Spanish and Portuguese airspace on its way. The Holy Father therefore sent the following telegrams to the Heads of State of those countries:
His Excellency, François Hollande
President of the French Republic
Paris
As I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit, I send cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens. I pray that Almighty God may bless you all with peace and prosperity, as I invoke divine blessings upon the nation.
Francis
His Majesty, King Felipe VI
Kingdom of Spain
Madrid
I extend cordial greetings to Your Majesty and the Spanish people as I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit. Invoking the blessing of Almighty God upon the nation, I pray that He may grant you peace and prosperity.
Francis
His Excellency, Anibal Cavaco Silva
President of the Portuguese Republic
Lisbon
Upon entering Portuguese airspace, I extend cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens. I pray that Almighty God may bless the nation with peace and well-being, as I invoke upon you the blessing of Almighty God.
Francis
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
Washington
As I fly over the airspace of the United States on my way to Cuba, I send cordial greetings to you, Mister President, and to your fellow citizens. Anticipating with joy my visit to the United States, I invoke divine blessings upon you all, and I pray that peace and well-being may flourish in the nation.
Francis
Her Excellency, Dame Marguerite Pindling
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Nassau
I send cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens as I fly over your country on my way to Cuba for a pastoral visit. Invoking divine blessings upon you all, I ask Almighty God to grant the nation well-being and peace.
Francis
During the flight to Cuba, Pope Francis spoke with journalists who are accompanying him, as is his custom. Introduced by a word from the Director of the Holy See Press Centre, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Pope offered a few words to the journalists.
Parole del Santo Padre ai giornalisti durante il volo verso Cuba
Introduction by Father Lombardi
Holy Father, welcome. We are once again aboard a flight to begin a great apostolic voyage. As you know, there are great expectations for this trip. Already in recent days, in fact in recent weeks, there has been a lot of news coverage about this voyage: shall we say - more than usual compared with other trips. And on the ground, there are thousands of accredited journalists waiting in all the places where you will be travelling. Here, we are 76: we had more than 140 requests to be present on this flight, and we had to restrict the number. But other colleagues are following attentively, of course from various places where we will be visiting. The community that is here present, as usual, represents various languages and countries. However, you will understand that this time there is a particularly large number of journalists from the United States. About a third of my colleagues here present represent television, newspapers and various agencies from the United States: more than 20 of the 76. But, we also have one Cuban among us, whose name is Rosa Miriam Elizalde: there she is. You can greet her later. So, we welcome you among us. We assure you that we are following this trip with great attention, knowing that it is of great importance for the entire world: you will have a chance to give messages for peace in all nations, in situations that are exceptional. If you would like, you can say a few words of introduction before you meet the team ... Thank you very much!
Holy Father:
Thank you for your welcome! Good morning! I wish you a good trip and good work. If I am not mistaken, I believe that this is the longest trip that I have taken, one day longer than the one to Brazil ... You worked hard then! I thank you very much, for the work that you did and that you are doing. Father Lombardi said one word: peace. I believe that today the world is thirsty for peace. There are wars, migrants who are fleeing, this wave of immigration that is coming from the war, fleeing from death, in order to seek life ... Today, I am so emotional because at the Casa Santa Marta, the members of one of the two families who are at the parish of Saint Ann in the Vatican were waiting to greet me, the refugee family ... I saw in their faces all the suffering that they have endured! This word: peace ... I thank you for all that you are doing in your work to build bridges: little bridges, small ones, but even a small bridge and another one, and another one, and another one, eventually they will make up a large bridge of peace.
Have a good trip, work hard. Pray for me. Thank you.
One more thing, which Father Lombardi said, and which one of you pointed out to me: it is only proper that I should say, and send a greeting to all your colleagues who at this very moment are working, working in the offices.
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