Pope's grand tour of Italy over the next few months takes him to Lampedusa and beyond
ABC News
The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo XIV will travel up and down the Italian peninsula over the next few months
ROME -- ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will visit ground zero of Europe’s migration drama, the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, in May and also minister to Italians poisoned by years of toxic dumping by the mafia, according to travel plans announced on Thursday by the Vatican.
The Vatican released Leo's agenda for day trips to a half-dozen Italian cities over the next six months. The Vatican has rarely released such plans together and so far in advance, but word of the visits was starting to filter out.
The busy itinerary, which will take Leo up and down the Italian peninsula, is in addition to plans for some intense foreign travel in 2026. There are plans under study for a four-nation trip to Africa after Easter that would take Leo to Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Cameroon. Leo himself has said he hopes to visit his beloved Peru, as well as Argentina and Uruguay, trips that could happen toward the end of the year.
The Vatican previously confirmed that one foreign trip not on the agenda this year is to Leo’s native United States.
History’s first U.S.-born pope was limited in his ability to leave Rome during his first year as pontiff because of the busy 2025 Holy Year agenda, which saw millions of pilgrims coming to the Vatican for special Masses and papal audiences.
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