Pope Francis, in Corsica, warns against religion that stokes divisions

Pope Francis’ trip to Corsica marks the first papal visit to the French island, the pontiff later met French President Macron

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Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron, right, attend the pope’s departure ceremony at Ajaccio airport on the French island of Corsica on Sunday. Photo: Pool via Reuters

Published: 3:42pm, 15 Dec 2024Updated: 3:23am, 16 Dec 2024

Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Sunday to guard against spiritual groups that stoke political divisions, speaking during a one-day visit to Corsica, the first by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

At a conference on religion in the Mediterranean region, the pontiff warned against varieties of spirituality that “seek self-aggrandisement by fuelling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and exclusivist attitudes”.

“The Church’s pastors [are] called to be vigilant, to exercise discernment and to be constantly attentive to [these] popular forms of religiosity,” the pope said.

Francis, making his third and probably last foreign trip of 2024, did not name any specific religious groups.

Corsica has a long history of lay Catholic associations, known as confraternities. They usually focus on spiritual matters but sometimes play a role in local politics.

The pope spent about nine hours in Ajaccio, Corsica’s capital. After attending the conference, he celebrated an outdoor Mass with what the Vatican estimated was a crowd of 15,000 Catholics. He also met French President Emmanuel Macron.

Visiting places that often do not draw international attention is part of the pope’s policy of highlighting people and problems in what he calls the “peripheries” of the world.