Pope Francis makes first visit to Corsica

Pope Francis lights a candle at the small statue of the Madonuccia (Ajaccio's patron saint) in Ajaccio, as part of his trip on the French island of Corsica, on December 15, 2024. [AFP]

Pope Francis arrived in Corsica, a stronghold of the Catholic faith, on Sunday, with locals hotly anticipating the first-ever trip by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

Sitting in a wheelchair and wearing his white vestments and skullcap, a smiling Francis was greeted on the tarmac by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and a military band as he emerged from the papal plane.

Television images showed him handing local children small gifts after they brought him flowers.

In a packed timetable for the 87-year-old pope, Francis will speak at a congress on religion in the Mediterranean, hold an Angelus prayer and celebrate an open-air mass during the one-day visit.

He will also meet President Emmanuel Macron before his departure around 6:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Tens of thousands of people are expected to welcome Francis in Ajaccio, capital of what is popularly known as the "Ile de Beaute" (Island of Beauty).

The city was decked out in decorations in the papal colours, yellow and white, while cars had been banished from central streets with parking bans.

Around 2,000 police reinforcements were sent to Ajaccio to beef up security.

Francis's short trip, based around a congress on faith in the Mediterranean region, comes just a week after he snubbed the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris five years after a devastating fire.

The relaunch was attended by a long list of bigwigs, royalty and world leaders, including US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Francis declined the French government's invitation to attend.

But he agreed to the Corsica trip hosted by the island's popular, media-savvy cardinal, 56-year-old Francois-Xavier Bustillo.

"Corsica has been preparing to host (Francis) for a long time," Bustillo told AFP this week.

Although "it's a poor diocese... we'll manage a welcome worthy of the pope" thanks to donations from businesses and individual churchgoers, he added.

Corsica's prefect Jerome Filippini said that the visit would also cost the French state "several million euros" over its few hours.

Popemobile tour

Workers have repainted the facade of Ajaccio's Notre-Dame de l'Assomption cathedral and built a wheelchair ramp for Francis, who has limited mobility, to enter by its main door.

New pews have been delivered and yellow-and-white flags hung behind the altar.

Near the cathedral, a colourful street-art style fresco by Ajaccio artists shows Francis in front of stained-glass windows and a map of Corsica.

Francis, who will turn 88 two days after his trip, will make two speeches and celebrate mass at an open-air theatre.

He is also expected to greet the crowds from his popemobile in Ajaccio's streets.

"We're proud, it's a privilege for (the pope) to come here rather than Paris," said Paule Negroni, a 52-year-old bookshop owner.

Around 90 percent of Corsica's 350,000 inhabitants are Catholic, according to the local Church.

Francis "comes to see poor people and children, he's very popular," said Helene Politi, who will be one of 250 people singing for Francis at mass.

The pope has made several visits around the Mediterranean, from the Greek island of Lesbos to Malta and Sicily.

But this is the first visit by a pope to Corsica, a French region with a distinctive identity, fierce independence movement and a special constitutional status currently under discussion between Paris and local elected officials.

Troubled ties with France?

It is Francis's third visit to France as pope, after eastern city Strasbourg in 2014 and Mediterranean port Marseille last year -- although none has been an official state visit to the country.

Some have seen that as a sign of his disapproval of French policy changes away from Church doctrine during his papacy, including on gay marriage and an ongoing public debate about assisted dying.

Some French Catholics have expressed disappointment that the pope stayed away from Notre Dame's grand reopening.

Francis's defenders highlight that the pontiff, concerned with the world's marginalised people, largely shuns capital cities and sumptuous receptions.

Born in Argentina, he has never visited Spain, Britain or Germany as pope.

Even in the Vatican, he prefers closed-door audiences with pilgrims, homeless people or migrants to meetings with the powerful.

Recent health problems have not kept the pope from looking in good form in recent months.

The Corsica visit will be his 47th overseas visit since his 2013 election and the third in 2024.