Refugee drama to dominate pope’s weekend trip to Malta

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis heads to Malta this weekend, with the refugee exodus from Ukraine casting a haunting backdrop to the trip. Francis’ two-day visit to the Mediterranean island nation was always expected to focus on migration, given Malta’s central place in Europe’s refugee debate and Francis’ frequent calls for nations to show solidarity to people fleeing war, famine and poverty. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the forced exodus of 4 million people — half of them children — have added a new impetus to the visit, which was originally scheduled for May 2020 but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.