This morning, on the aircraft that carried him to Romania, the Holy Father Francis greeted the media workers accompanying him on the papal flight.

Following a brief introduction from the interim director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, the Pope addressed the following words to the journalists:

Words of the Holy Father

Alessandro Gisotti

Good morning, welcome Holy Father. Welcome also to our colleagues, in particular our colleagues from the Romanian media. A special welcome also to Mathilde Imberty of Radio France, on her last papal flight as she will return to France. Holy Father, we are returning to Eastern Europe. The motto of this trip is “Walking together”, and it seems, from the programme, that we will walk and fly together a lot in these days. This underlines your commitment and wish to encounter, as far as possible, the people, the cultural and ethnic wealth of Romania. Please, Holy Father…

Pope Francis

Good morning, and thank you for the company on this trip. They tell us that the weather will not be good: there is rain… But let’s hope that it will be like it was in Bulgaria, when they said this and it went well. Thank you for your work, for your company. Thank you!