"Flying to the ends of the earth bringing the Gospel of hope and peace", is the program of Pope Francis after the brief parenthesis in hospital and the Holy Easter just passed. The pontiff will return to travel respecting the program of apostolic journeys on the calendar. He announced it himself, receiving this morning in audience at the Vatican the managers and staff of the Ita Airways airline company.

"In two weeks, God willing, I will leave for the 41st apostolic pilgrimage to visit Hungary. Then there will be Marseille, then Mongolia, all these things that are on the waiting list," he explained.

Bergoglio thus confirmed the trip to the construction site for the end of September in Marseilles and Mongolia, not mentioning the one scheduled for the beginning of August on the occasion of WYD (World Youth Day) in Lisbon. The last one, last January, saw him protagonist in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

The pontiff wanted to thank Ita Airways for the service rendered, calling them "the wings of the Pope", because, Francis said, "they allow the Successor of Peter to fly to the ends of the Earth bringing the Gospel of hope and peace". During the audience, Pope Francis then asked: "If St. Paul had had the opportunity to travel by plane, what would have happened?"

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Pope Francis with black bag boarding a plane

The travels of the other pontiffs before him

The Pope then wanted to outline the history of the international journeys of the pontiffs. "It was January 4, 1964 - he said - when St. Paul VI boarded the DC8 of Alitalia, the first Pontiff in history to take the plane for an apostolic pilgrimage.

Pope Montini had so much wanted the trip to the Holy Land, short but intense. He announced this with enthusiasm and emotion to the Council Fathers at the end of the second session of Vatican II. That flight, departing from Rome-Fiumicino and arriving in Amman, inaugurated papal journeys in the world: a new way of carrying out the Petrine ministry, which allowed the Bishop of Rome to reach many people who could never have made a pilgrimage to the Eternal City. After that first journey, Saint Paul VI made eight more, touching all the continents.

With St. John Paul II, who in his 27 years of pontificate made 104 international trips, this form of mission became an integral part of the pontificate. This is how his successor Benedict XVI traveled."

"And so - Francis said - I continued to travel too". "The Italian 'flag' airline, which you represent here, usually accompanies the Successor of Peter and his entourage on their outward journey; and in some cases it also does so on the return journey and in internal trips, or from one country to another as part of the same journey."

In reference to his knee problem, Francis stressed that the one provided by the airline "is a very precious service, which requires competence, care and attention to many details, including the difficult logistics: the Pope knows this well who, as you see, has some mobility problems, but thanks also to your help he continues to travel!".