Pope Francis’ general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Feb. 9, 2022. / Vatican Media.

Valletta, Malta, Feb 10, 2022 / 04:34 am (CNA).

The Catholic Archdiocese of Malta confirmed on Thursday that Pope Francis intends to make a two-day visit to the country in April.

A Feb. 10 announcement on its website said that the pope had accepted the invitation issued by Malta’s President George Vella, the civil authorities and local Church.

It said that the visit to Malta and Gozo, the two largest islands in the archipelago officially known as the Republic of Malta, would take place on April 2-3.

“The pope will visit Valletta, Victoria, Floriana and Ħal Far, and the island of Gozo,” it said.

“The program and further details of the journey will be published at a later stage.”

Ħal Far is the site of an immigration reception center housing migrants from Africa.

The news was also announced by Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, in a Feb. 10 statement.

The pope had initially planned to visit the island country in the central Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2020, the Solemnity of Pentecost. But the Vatican announced that the trip had been “postponed until further notice” in March 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis.

In a February 2020 pastoral letter anticipating the pope’s visit, Malta’s bishops said that the theme of the trip would be “They showed us unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2).

They said that the pope would meet with the people of the island of Malta and residents of Gozo, the second-largest island in the archipelago, as well as migrants.

An overwhelming majority of Malta’s roughly half a million population are baptized Catholics. Catholicism is the state religion under the Constitution of Malta.

The country’s leading Catholic figure is Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the archbishop of Malta since 2015 and the adjunct secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2018.

John Paul II became the first pope to visit Malta in 1990. He visited again in 2001.

The most recent papal visit, by Benedict XVI, took place on April 17-18, 2010.