By AFPMore by this AuthorVATICAN CITY,Pope Francis is to visit flood-ravaged Mozambique and Indian Ocean nations Madagascar and Mauritius in September, the Vatican announced on Wednesday. President Filipe Nyusi invited the pontiff to visit Mozambique during a trip to the Vatican last September, announcing the possible trip to reporters in a breach of Vatican protocol. Pope Francis kicked off the year with a historic public mass for an estimated 170,000 Catholics at a stadium in the capital of the United Arab Emirates in February. Pope John Paul II visited Mozambique in 1988 and witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by the long civil war. Madagascar cardinal Desire Tsarahazana said in October that the pope would visit the east African island nation with a population of around 25 million this year.

Source: Daily Nation March 27, 2019 13:07 UTC