Francis will visit Pope Celestine V who resigned in 1294. Benedict also visited him ... but is there a reason for the visit that everyone's missing?
On Sunday, August 28, 2022, the day after the Consistory in which he will create 21 new cardinals, including 16 electors, Pope Francis will travel to L’Aquila, a city hit by an earthquake in 2009. This will be Pope Francis’ first pastoral visit to Italy in 2022, following the cancellation, for health reasons, of his planned visit to Florence on February 27.
The city of L’Aquila was visited by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, on April 28, 2009, as a sign of compassion for those affected by the earthquake of April 6, which killed nearly 300 people and left 65,000 homeless.