A year ago, the pope said these words to a group from Japan.
POPE FRANCIS
And taking advantage of your visit, I would like to announce my willingness to visit Japan next year. I hope I can do so.
The Vatican has officially confirmed that Pope Francis will visit the Far East in November. His first stop will be Thailand. He will arrive there on the 20th and will stay until the 23rd. He will then visit Japan, where he will stay from the 23rd to the 26th.
There, he will visit Tokyo. Then, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he will resume the speech he made to the UN during his trip in 2015.
POPE FRANCIS
There is an urgent need to work for a world free of nuclear weapons in full application of the non-proliferation Treaty, in letter and spirit.
When he was young, Pope Francis said that he wanted to be a missionary in Japan. No one could imagine that he would one day visit Japan as the pope.
Javier Romero Bedate
Translated: Rachel Dobzynski
