The Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Seychelles says he hopes that that Pope Francis will visit the island nation in 2019.
The Conference of Bishops of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI) – regrouping bishops from Reunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Seychelles and Comoros – have received information that the pontiff is expected to visit Madagascar next year.
If this happens, Pope Francis will be the second head of the Catholic Church to visit the islands after Pope Jean-Paul II visited the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, in 1986.
“We would like him to come to the Seychelles, but you know, the pope cannot go to all the small countries,” Bishop Denis Wiehe of Seychelles told SNA on Thursday.
CEDOI has started negotiations with the Vatican but up to now, nothing concrete has been decided.
