Pope Francis released a video message on Saturday about bringing the joy of the Gospel to Greece and Cyprus, where he will travel December 2-6.
“I am preparing to come as a pilgrim to your magnificent lands, blessed by history, culture, and the Gospel,” the Pope said in the message published 27 November.
“I come with joy, precisely in the name of the Gospel, in the footsteps of the first great missionaries, especially the Apostles Paul and Barnabas,” he added. “It is good to return to the origins and it is important for the Church to rediscover the joy of the Gospel.”
Pope Francis asked for prayers as he prepares for the five-day journey to the cities of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus; and Athens, the Greek capital; as well as the Greek island of Lesbos.
He will first travel to Cyprus, where on 2 December he will meet Catholic clergy and laypeople at the Maronite Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace. He will also visit the president and other political authorities.
On 3 December, the Pope will visit His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, the Orthodox archbishop of Cyprus, and meet the Orthodox Holy Synod of bishops. The same day, he will celebrate Mass and hold an ecumenical prayer service with migrants.
In Athens on 4 December, Pope Francis will meet Greece’s political leaders, Catholic clergy, a group of Jesuits, and another Orthodox leader: His Beatitude Ieronymos II, archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
Before offering Mass in Athens on 5 December, the Pope will fly to the island of Lesbos, where he will visit refugees at a reception and identification center in Mytilene.
His trip will conclude with a gathering of young Catholics, before flying back to Rome on 6 December.