The plane carrying Leo The aircraft took off at 8.13 from Fiumicino, where the Pope had arrived by car from the Vatican and was greeted by the prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Petar Rajič, by the vice-regent of the prefecture, the Augustinian Edward Daniang Daleng, and by the bishop of Porto – Santa Rufina, in whose jurisdiction the Fiumicino airport is located, Monsignor Gianrico Ruzza. Accompanying the Pontiff on this visit to Spain are Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and Ángel Fernández Artime, Spanish Salesian, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; archbishops Paolo Rudelli, deputy of the Secretariat of State, Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Filippo Iannone, Carmelite, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Luis Marín de San Martín, Augustinian from Madrid, almoner of His Holiness and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, and Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical celebrations pontifical; Monsignors José Nahúm Jairo Salas Castañeda, responsible for the organization of apostolic journeys, and L’ubomir Welnitz, pontifical master of ceremonies, with the officials of the Liturgical Celebrations Office, the Jesuit Massimo Marelli and the Augustinian Bruno Silvestrini; the private secretaries of His Holiness Monsignor Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga and Don Marco Billeri; Monsignor Juan Pablo Cerrillos Hernandez, official of the Secretariat of State (Spanish section); the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni; the editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication (Dpc), Andrea Tornielli, the director of «L’Osservatore Romano», Andrea Monda, and the deputy director of the Dpc editorial direction, Massimiliano Menichetti; the chamber aides Piergiorgio Zanetti and Anton Kappler; and Dr. Luigi Carbone, archiatrist. Upon arrival, the papal entourage was joined by Cardinal José Cobo Cano, Metropolitan Archbishop of Madrid; archbishops Piero Pioppo, apostolic nuncio to Spain, and Luis Javier Argüello García, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference; and Monsignors Roman Walczak, nunciature counselor, and Giuseppe Commisso, nunciature secretary, and Yago de la Cierva, local coordinator of the visit. Below we publish the telegrams sent by the Pope at the time of departure to the President of the Italian Republic and during the flyover to the President of the Republic of France.
To His Excellency
Hon. Sergio Mattarella
President of the Italian Republic
Quirinale Palace
00187 Rome
At the moment in which I begin the Apostolic Journey to Spain, under the maternal gaze of the Virgin Mary who welcomes us and directs us towards God, the source of unity and hope for all peoples, I am pleased to address to you, Mr President, my cordial greeting, which I accompany with fervent prayers for the good and prosperity of the entire Italian nation.
Leo PP. XIV
His Excellency
Emmanuel Macron
President of the French
Republic
Paris
I send cordial greetings to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens as I fly through French airspace on my Apostolic Journey to Spain. Gladly recalling your recent visit to the Vatican, I invoke Almighty God’s blessings upon the Nation, especially his gifts of peace and joy.
Leo PP. XIV
For his part, the Italian head of state Sergio Mattarella responded with a message in which he confided to the Pontiff his hope that the “pilgrimage” to Iberian soil could give “a strong impulse among all men and women of good will to recover the sense of community, of meeting and mutual support”. This is because “the uncertainty of the international context – continued the President of the Italian Republic -, aggravated by the numerous ongoing conflicts, with their intolerable toll of blood and suffering, gives rise everywhere, among believers and non-believers, to a rediscovery of the fundamental questions about life and the future”. After all, “peace is born in the hearts of everyone and we must never resign ourselves to war”, he reiterated, recalling the numerous appeals launched by the Pope in this sense. For this reason, Mattarella highlighted, the attention that Leo
