Francis makes first visit by a pope to Corsica

AJACCIO

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 was also to meet President Emmanuel Macron before his departure around 6 p.m.

Tens of thousands of people were 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 colors, 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 U.S. 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.