The longest Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis’ pontificate has begun

Before leaving, the Pontiff greeted fifteen homeless people at the Casa Santa Marta.

Thirty-three thousand kilometers above the skies of the Far East, between four states, two continents, and several time zones. The 45th apostolic journey of the pontificate began at 5:32 p.m. when the papal flight took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport with its bow bound for Indonesia for the first “jump” of 11,000 kilometers and an estimated 13 hours of flight, which will carry Francis, his entourage and more than 70 journalists on board to arrive tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. local time at the “Soekarno-Hatta” international airport in Jakarta, 6:30 a.m. in Italy.

Greetings to some homeless people

As usual, the Pope preceded his departure for Fiumicino airport with a greeting of solidarity at the Casa Santa Marta, which he exchanged shortly after 4:00 p.m. with about fifteen homeless men and women, accompanied – reported the Vatican Press Office in a message on its Telegram account – by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Apostolic Almoner.