Pope Francis arrives on 1st papal visit to Corsica, with focus on regional crisis, popular piety

AJACCIO, Corsica (AP) — Pope Francis’ one-day visit to the French island of Corsica on Sunday, two days before his 88th birthday, puts a dual focus on the Mediterranean, highlighting local traditions of popular piety on the one hand and migrant deaths and wars on the other.

A brass band and children in traditional garb greeted Francis at the airport, and thousands lined the route of his motorcade waving flags and shouting greetings. The pope stopped along the way to listen to a choir of children singing.

The visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, is one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron.

It is the first papal visit to the island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768 and is located closer to the Italian mainland than France.

Corsica stands out from the rest of secularized France as a particularly devout region, with 92 confraternities, or lay associations dedicated to works of charity or piety, with over 4,000 members.

“It means that there is a beautiful, mature, adult and responsible collaboration between civil authorities, mayors, deputies, senators, officials and religious authorities,’’ Ajaccio Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo told The Associated Press. “There is no hostility between the two. And that is a very positive aspect because in Corsica there is no ideological hostility.”

Renè Colombani traveled with 2,000 others by ship from northern Corsica to Ajaccio, on the western coast, to see the pope.

“It is an event that we will not see again in several years. It may be the only time that the pope will come to Corsica. And since we wanted to be a part of it, we have come a long way'' Colombani said.

Papa Francescu, the pope’s name in Corsican, will address more than 400 participants at the Conference on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean, organized by Cardinal Bustillo.

The pope’s remarks will include reflections on local religious traditions, especially strongly held in Corsica, including the cult of the Virgin Mary, known locally as the Madunnuccia, which protected the island from the plague in 1656 when it was still under Genoa.

“The Mediterranean is the backdrop of this trip, surrounded by situations of crisis and conflict,’’ which is expected to be echoed in the pope’s address, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. The pope has often referred to the tragedy of migration, which he has said has turned the Mediterranean into "Europe's largest cemetery.''

After the conference address, he will travel to the 17th-century cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta to meet with clergy, stopping along the way at the statue of the Madunnuccia. Francis will celebrate Mass at the Place d’Austerlitz park, where it is said Napoleon played as a child. Around 7,000 faithful are expected. He will meet privately with Macron at the airport before departing for the 50-minute flight back to Rome.

The pontiff pointedly did not make the trip to Paris earlier this month for the pomp surrounding the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral following the devastating 2019 fire. The visit to Corsica seems far more suited to Francis’ priorities than a grand cathedral reopening, emphasizing the “church of the peripheries.”

It is Francis’ third trip to France, each time avoiding Paris and the protocols that a state visit entails. He visited the port of Marseille in 2023, on an overnight visit to participate in an annual summit of Mediterranean bishops, and went to Strasbourg in 2014 to address the European Parliament and Council of Europe.

Corsica is home to more than 340,000 people and has been part of France since 1768. But the island has also seen pro-independence violence and has an influential nationalist movement, and last year Macron proposed granting it limited autonomy.

__

Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

__

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Faithful wait for the arrival of Pope Francis at the Baptistery of St. Jean in Ajaccio during the Pontiff one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives at Ajaccio International Airport on the occasion of his one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A woman holds a placard reading: "Welcome, 108 year's old the eldest of Ajaccio" as she waits for the arrival of Pope Francis at the Baptistery of St. Jean in Ajaccio during the Pontiff one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis greets the journalists aboard his flight bound for Corsica for his apostolic journey in Ajaccio, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (Remo Casilli/Pool Via AP)

Pope Francis arrives at Ajaccio International Airport on the occasion of his one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives at Ajaccio International Airport on the occasion of his one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis is welcomed by children as he arrives at Ajaccio International Airport on the occasion of his one-day visit in the French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Workers set up the altar prior to Pope Francis' visit, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A woman carries bags bearing the Pope Franci' image prior to Pope's visit, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A man sits in the chair that the Pope Francis will use to celebrate a mass on Sunday, for a photo souvenir, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People walk near the seafront of Ajaccio prior to Pope Francis' visit, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People walk past a mural featuring Pope Francis prior to the Pope's visit, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People walk past a mural featuring Pope Francis prior to the Pope's visit, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People walk past a mural featuring Pope Francis prior to the Pope's visit, in Ajaccio, in the southern French island of Corsica, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Pope Francis boards an airplane at Rome's Fiumicino, airport as he leaves for his one-day visit to Ajaccio in he French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec.15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis boards an airplane at Rome's Fiumicino, airport as he leaves for his one-day visit to Ajaccio in he French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec.15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis boards an airplane at Rome's Fiumicino, airport as he leaves for his one-day visit to Ajaccio in he French island of Corsica, Sunday, Dec.15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition leader offered Sunday to work with the government to ease the political tumult as officials sought to reassure allies and markets, a day after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.

Liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, whose party holds a majority in the National Assembly, urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on Yoon's impeachment and proposed a special council for policy cooperation between the government and parliament.

Yoon's powers have been suspended until the court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. If Yoon is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.

Lee, who has led a fierce political offensive against Yoon's embattled government, is seen as the frontrunner to replace him. He lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by a razor-thin margin.

He told a televised news conference that a swift court ruling would be the only way to “minimize national confusion and the suffering of people.”

The court will meet to discuss the case Monday, and has up to 180 days to rule. But observers say that a court ruling could come faster. In the case of parliamentary impeachments of past presidents — Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016 — the court spent 63 days and 91 days respectively before determining to reinstate Roh and dismiss Park.

Lee also proposed a national council where the government and the National Assembly would work together to stabilize state affairs, and said his party won't seek to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, a Yoon appointee who's now serving as acting president.

“The Democratic Party will actively cooperate with all parties to stabilize state affairs and restore international trust,” Lee said. “The National Assembly and government will work together to quickly resolve the crisis that has swept across the Republic of Korea.”

It's unclear if Lee's proposed council will be realized.

In a meeting with the parliament speaker, who touched upon Lee's idea, Han said he will closely cooperate and communicate with the National Assembly but didn't specifically say whether the government intends to join the council. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, separately criticized Lee's proposal, saying that it’s “not right” for the opposition party acting like the ruling party.

Kweon, a Yoon loyalist, said that his party will use existing PPP-government dialogue channels "to continue to assume responsibility as the governing party until the end of President Yoon’s term.”

The Democratic Party has already used its parliamentary majority to impeach the justice minister and the chief of the national police over the martial law decree, and had previously said it was also considering impeaching the prime minister.

Upon assuming his role as acting leader, Han ordered the military to bolster its security posture to prevent North Korea from launching provocations. He also asked the foreign minister to inform other countries that South Korea’s major external policies will remain unchanged, and the finance minister to work to minimize potential negative impacts on the economy from the political turmoil.

On Sunday, Han had a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, discussing the political situation in South Korea and regional security challenges including North Korea’s nuclear program. Biden expressed his appreciation for the resiliency of democracy in South Korea and reaffirmed “the ironclad commitment” of the United States, according to both governments.

Yoon’s Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, the first of its kind in more than four decades, lasted only six hours, but has caused massive political tumult, halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets. Yoon was forced to lift his decree after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.

Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament in an effort to stop the vote, but they withdrew after the parliament rejected Yoon’s decree. No major violence occurred.

Opposition parties have accused Yoon of rebellion, saying a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and would have no right to suspend parliament’s operations even in those cases.

Yoon has rejected the charges and vowed to “fight to the end." He said the deployment of troops to parliament was aimed at issuing a warning to the Democratic Party, which he called an “anti-state force” that abused its control of parliament by holding up the government’s budget bill for next year and repeatedly pushing to impeach top officials.

Law enforcement institutions are investigating Yoon and others involved in the martial law case over possible rebellion and other allegations. They've arrested Yoon's defense minister and police chief and two other high-level figures.

Yoon has immunity from most criminal prosecution as president, but that doesn’t extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. He's been banned from leaving South Korea, but observers doubt that authorities will detain him because of the potential for clashes with his presidential security service.

South Korean media reported that prosecutors asked Yoon to appear at a prosecution office for questioning on Sunday but he refused to do so. The reports said prosecutors plan to ask him to appear again. Repeated calls to a prosecutors’ office in Seoul were unanswered.

Lee called for authorities to speed up their probes and said that an independent investigation by a special prosecutor should be launched as soon as possible. Last week, the National Assembly passed a law calling for such an investigation.

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press conference on removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, at the party office at the National Assembly building in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People attend at a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. The letters read "Impeachment." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this photo released by South Korean President Office via Yonhap, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol bows while delivering a speech at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach Yoon Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, front left, and its floor leader Park Chan-dae, front right, leave a room at the National Assembly in Seoul after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, and his party members bow at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, after South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Kim Ju-hyung/Yonhap via AP)