On the aircraft that carried him this morning to Cairo, Egypt, for his eighteenth Apostolic Trip, Pope Francis addressed his customary greetings to the media workers accompanying him on the papal flight.

Following a presentation by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, the Pope addressed some words to the journalists, published below:

Words of the Holy Father

Greg Burke:

Holy Father, we would like to thank you, especially for this privilege of travelling with you. You tell us to say “thank you”, “sorry” and “excuse me”, so we ask you forgive us for your time that we take, but Msgr. Maurizio Rueda tells me it will be brief, and I say this also to the journalists: it is only a greeting, and it is not the time for interviews, but the Pope will greet everyone. Thank you for this journey, which is so important.

Holy Father:

Thank you. I thank you for the company and for your labour, a work that will help many people to understand the trip, to know what has been done, what we have spoken about, many things … people follow us.

This trip has a special expectation because it is a trip undertaken upon invitation by the President of the Republic, the Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, by the Patriarch of Coptic Catholics, and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. All four of them invited me to make this trip. It is a trip of unity, of brotherhood. I thank you for your work that in less than two days will be quite, quite intense! Thank you.