Pope Francis will visit Corsica on December 15, the Vatican said on Saturday.
This will be the first recorded trip of a Pope to the French Mediterranean island.
The short visit to the island’s capital Ajaccio, will be his 47th foreign trip since becoming Pope in 2013.
Francis is expected to speak at a conference on popular religiosity across the Mediterranean region.
Corsica, noted for its steep, mountainous terrain and as the birthplace of Napoleon, is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean.
It is one of the poorest regions of France.
About 20% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to government figures.
Corsica’s local diocese first disclosed news of the one-day visit on its website on Friday.
The Vatican did not immediately confirm this announcement although the trip is known to have been in preparation for weeks.
Francis has made two prior visits to France.
In 2014, he visited Strasbourg to address the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
In 2023, he visited Marseilles to attend a meeting of bishops.
But the Pope, who turns 88 on December 17, has never made a full state visit to France, a historic stronghold of Catholicism.
France is now widely secular and is home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish communities.
French President Emmanuel Macron invited Francis to come to Paris for the December 8 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
But, the Pope will be leading a ceremony at the Vatican that day to install new Catholic cardinals.
Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, originally from Spain, has led the Catholic Church in Corsica since 2021.
Francis made him a Cardinal, the highest rank in the Church below Pope, in 2023.
The Vatican estimates that 81.5% of Corsica’s population of 356,000 is Catholic.
Francis has travelled widely around the Mediterranean over his 11-year papacy.
He has visited Malta, the Greek island of Lesbos and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
(With inputs from Reuters)
