Beautiful sunshine pierced the blue morning skies above the airport runway, while, in the background, the first snow of the year could be seen on the summit of Monte d'Oro. After the previous day's storm and rain, Pope Francis arrived at Ajaccio airport amid calm weather, on the morning of Sunday, December 15. "Less than an hour's flight," insisted many Corsicans, as if to say that he was coming to their island as a neighbor, and that Rome was, geographically at least, much closer to Corsica than to Paris. This was the pope's third trip to France (after Strasbourg in 2014 and Marseille in 2023), a historic first for the island, which had never before welcomed a pope. Arriving before 9 am and leaving an hour later than planned, at 7 pm, the pope concluded his mass on a vibrant Dio vi salvi Regina – both an ode to the Virgin Mary and a Corsican anthem – sung by an emotive crowd of pilgrims, ecclesiastic officials and politicians alike. It was the high point of the day.

His high mass had begun shortly before 4 pm, in the Casone district, on the heights of Ajaccio, before a crowd of at least 7,500 people. For the occasion, French-Spanish Cardinal François Bustillo, created as a cardinal just one year ago by Pope Francis in Rome, had carefully selected the images he dreamed of sharing with the world: A warm, good-natured and sunny visit, in contrast to the flashy, selective and rainy Parisian ceremony at Notre-Dame, eight days earlier. Prelates dressed in pink chasubles – a symbol of joy for the third Sunday of Advent – outdoor choirs; babies brandished, to be blessed by the pope; flocks of the faithful, who knew the words of the songs sung at each stage of the day; pilgrims, who came with picnics in their backpacks, riding the region's little touristic trains, or who came by boat from Bastia – a real celebration.

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