Pope Francis Embarks on Trip to Morocco (ZENIT Is on the Papal Flight)

Pope Francis has taken off in his Alitalia flight with his papal entourage and journalists for his two-day visit to Morocco, March 30-31.
ZENIT’s Anita Bourdin, Director of the French Edition, is on the papal flight.
The Pontiff’s arrival in the nation’s capital of Rabat is expected at about 2 p.m. local time. The visit marks Francis’ 28th Apostolic Visit abroad and his 42nd country visited.
Before leaving for the airport, Francis met a group of Moroccan migrants who are hosted in Italy, thanks to the Community of Sant’Egidio, at his residence Casa Santa Marta. They included two families, each with two children, two young women and a young man. The group was accompanied by the Papal Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.
Pope Francis’ trip follows the visit of his predecessor Saint John Paul II to the country in 1985. In his video message to Moroccans ahead of the trip, Francis has noted, like the Polish Pontiff, he comes as a “pilgrim of peace and fraternity.”
Morocco is a majority-Muslim nation, with Muslims making up about 99 percent of the population, and its Catholic community making up less than .1 percent.
Similar to his Apostolic Visit Feb. 3-5 United Arab Emirates, where ZENIT English Edition Senior Vatican Correspondent was on the papal flight, the first day of the trip will be focused on interreligious dialogue and the second to the local Catholic community.
The Holy Father is expected to focus on interreligious, and even some ecumenical, dialogue, migration, and encouraging the country’s small Catholic flock.
The Vatican on February 26, 2019, released the updated program below for the trip:
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