Chile's national flag is seen as Pope Francis leads his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 5. (CNS/Paul Haring)
by Catholic News Service
Pope Francis will travel to Colombia in September and, the Vatican announced, he will return to South America in January for a visit to Chile and Peru.
The pope will be in Chile Jan. 15-18, visiting the cities of Santiago, Temuco and Iquique, the Vatican press office announced June 19. He then will fly to Peru and from Jan. 18-21, he will visit Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo.
The Vatican had announced in March that the pope would make a pastoral trip to Colombia Sept. 6-11.
No mention was made of a possible trip to the pope's homeland, Argentina. He has not returned to the country since he was elected pope in March 2013.
The Peru-Chile trip would be his fourth to South America. In July 2013, he visited Brazil for World Youth Day. In July 2015, he traveled to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. The September trip to Colombia would be his third to the continent.
