The Times of Malta said that Malta’s President George Vella and Prime Minister Robert Abela had accepted the dates of the April visit.
Malta, located south of the Italian island of Sicily, is named in the Acts of the Apostles as the site where St. Paul was shipwrecked on route to Rome in 60 A.D.
In a pastoral letter anticipating the pope’s scheduled 2020 visit, Malta’s bishops said that the theme of the trip would be “They showed us unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2).
They said that the pope would meet with the people of the island of Malta and residents of Gozo, the second-largest island in the archipelago, as well as migrants.
“In his short but meaningful visit to Malta, Pope Francis will celebrate and pray with the Maltese and Gozitan people,” the bishops wrote.
“He will show us how, purified by the Spirit of God who cleanses us from our sins, we can live in true reconciliation together and treat each other with dignity and ‘unusual kindness.’”
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