Pope Francis will be visiting Malta in May, sources close to the Church have confirmed.

Asked to confirm the visit, a spokesman for the Archbishop’s Curia would only say that the Maltese bishops, encouraged by the Pope’s respectful words about the Maltese, have again invited His Holiness to visit the Maltese islands.

One of the Pope's last public mentions of Malta was on January 22 when he urged Catholics to welcome migrants as the Maltese had first welcomed St Paul.  

It will be the fourth papal visit in 30 years. St John Paul II visited Malta twice, in 1990 and in 2001, when he beatified Dun Ġorġ Preca, Sr Adeodata Pisani and Blessed Nazju Falzon. 

His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, visited Malta in 2010.

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