In Lourdes, where he concluded the assembly of the French bishops on Sunday afternoon, their president sought to defuse the controversy surrounding the Pope’s absence in Paris on December 8, and his possible presence in Ajaccio a week later.
The Archbishop of Reims, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the Bishops of France, was formal on Sunday, November 10, in concluding the work of the episcopate’s autumn assembly: “I want to make it clear that there has never been any question of the pope to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris There’s a very simple reason for this: the cathedral is the star of the show, not the Pope’s visit to France, which is an event in itself! I think the Pope understood this from the outset. He never intended to divert attention from Notre-Dame Cathedral to himself. It was never really a question of that.”
A clarification to defuse a brewing controversy, linked to the Pope’s absence from Paris on December 8 and to his potential presence in Corsica on December 15, according to persistent rumors of a trip by Francis. It would consist of a one-day round trip, and should be confirmed by the Holy See at the end of this week. “I don’t…
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