Pope Francis visits Georgia

Pope Francis is in Georgia for the first time.

The head of the Catholic Church was invited to the ex-Soviet Republic by his counterpart in the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II.

During his two-day trip to the predominantly Orthodox country, the Pontiff will give a holy mass at the Meshki Stadium in Tbilisi.

On Friday, he met President Giorgi Margvelashvili at the presidential palace in Tbilisi, where he called for called for a peaceful coexistence “among all peoples and states”, saying

“Indeed, in far too many areas of the Earth, there seems to be a dominant way of thinking which undermines the coexistence of legitimate differences and disagreements – which can always arise – within a climate of civilised dialogue where reason, modernisation and responsibility prevail.”

Differences and disagreements were clearly visible outside Tbilisi’s international airport, where a group protested against the pope’s visit.