Details of Pope Francis’ Georgia visit revealed

The Vatican press office has today published the schedule of Pope Francis’ Georgia visit.

The Pope will arrive in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi in the morning of September 30.

The Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis would meet President Giorgi Margvelashvili at the Presidential Palace.

The Pope will also meet other Georgian authorities, civil society members and diplomatic corps.

On the second day of the visit Pope Francis will hold a liturgy at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi's Vake district before leaving for Mtskheta, an ancient town near the capital city to see the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

The Pope will leave Georgia on October 2 and travel to Azerbaijan's capital Baku.

This will be the second time a Pope has visited Georgia. Pope John Paul II visited Tbilisi in 1999.

The latest Census in Georgia in 2015 revealed there were 19,200 Catholics in Georgia, or about 0.5 percent of the total population. Most lived in the southern part of the country, where Catholicism spread in the 13th Century.

Georgian Christmas Tale: Read Agenda.ge's article about Georgian Catholics