Pope aboard papal aircraft: ‘I travel to France to proclaim Christ’s peace’

By Isabella H. de Carvalho – Aboard papal aircraft

“Buongiorno a tutti! Bonjour! Good morning! As we say in English, welcome on board! Happy to see you all this morning, happy to greet you,” Pope Leo XIV stated on the flight headed to France, as he begins his fifth worldwide Apostolic Journey from September 25 to twenty-eight, which can deliver him to Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.

“I, above all, am travelling to France, as to anywhere else in the world, as a follower of Jesus Christ wanting to proclaim peace, the peace of Christ throughout the world. It is a message which at this time, as we all know, is particularly important,” the Pope stated to journalists travelling with him.

He thanked them for his or her work and famous that this Journey will contact on “a number of very important topics.”

More than 80 journalists kind over 10 nations stuffed the airplane seats which had a head seat cowl with the Pope’s coat of arms embroidered, together with the brand of ITA Airways, the Italian provider working the flight.

Members of the press have been armed with notebooks, telephones, laptops, photograph cameras, and different tools, as they acquired able to relay to viewers, listeners and readers the world over all the things concerning the Pope’s journey.

Across the aisles one might hear a myriad of languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, after all, and plenty of extra.

The Pope took this chance to “apologize personally” for the truth that on his final Apostolic Journey to Spain in June 2026, as a consequence of a technical challenge on the papal aircraft, the journalists returned to Rome on a separate flight from the Pope and thus the standard inflight press convention couldn’t be held.

“I know,” he stated, that this incident “left a number of you unhappy with the fact that we could not have the flight back together, back to Rome,” the Pope acknowledged.

Exchanges with the press

The Pope then greeted each journalist current individually, and plenty of took the chance to trade jokes, ask questions, or supply items.

Asked by a CNN reporter about his fellow colleagues who had points accessing the White House in latest weeks, the Pope responded that he was “very happy that here you are all welcome and good coverage, I think, is very important and that we have it all the way around, for everyone.”

A New York Times journalist requested the Pope concerning the improvement of AI to which he answered: “Our Vatican Commission, in fact, is in contact with many of the leaders in the AI world, and we are continuing, if you will, the dialogue that I hope to have begun or continued in the encyclical. And I think from their perspective, many of them, they’re very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather than be a tool for human beings. Good things are beginning at least.”

Another American journalist for the National Catholic Reporter requested the Pope if he’ll help his alma mater, Villanova University, in an upcoming basketball recreation to be held in Rome in opposition to Notre Dame. “They tell me that the people coming to the match, 90% are from Villanova and 10% Notre Dame, so the voice of the people of God will be very strong on the Villanova side,” the Pope replied.

A reporter from OSV News, an American publication, requested the Pope concerning the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen and what he meant to the Pope personally.

“We watched him as a family, and it was a way of spending some time together as a family with the truth, the teachings that he shared in such a enthusiastic, lively way, especially considering that day and age watching on TV, this Catholic bishop, who was originally from Illinois,” stated the Pope. “The message that he had was something that really came home to people. I think it helped us as a family, for example.”

In response to questions on his fluency in French, the Pope answered he has been practising a little bit bit, however specified he isn’t utilizing Duolingo anymore, as had been reported in sure media shops.

A journalist working for the Spanish radio COPE gave the Pope a cross made out of the wooden from the wildfires that devastated the Western Mediterranean nation this summer time. Around 300,000 hectares burned in Spain this 12 months in accordance with the European Forest Fire Information System. The cross incorporates charred stays collected close to the Chapel of Our Lady of La Nueva in Getafe, Madrid, one of many few church buildings spared by the flames.

“In the face of natural disasters, we must show responsibility and care for our common home,” the Pope stated. Above all, he added, we should “pray”, explaining that that is the very first thing he does when confronted with such tragedies. 

A Venezuelan photojournalist gave him a e-book with 74 letters from survivors from the earthquake that devastated the nation in June and precipitated over 6,000 deaths.

Another Spanish journalist requested him concerning the migration disaster in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in northern Africa, to which he answered that he has adopted the problem for the reason that starting and that responses have to be discovered with the intention to keep away from this emergency. “It was really a humanitarian crisis,” he stated.