Prime Minister Robert Abela will be meeting Pope Francis on Friday, with the Pontiff’s December visit on the agenda, a website dedicated to Vatican affairs reports.

In its account of papal appointments for October, ACI Stampa said that the two will be discussing the trip Pope Francis will be making to Malta before the end of the year.

No official dates have been given, with the report indicating that Pope Francis will be in Malta on 2 and 3 December before flying to Cyprus for a visit on 4 December and ending his trip in Greece on 5 and 6 December.

Pope Francis was due in Malta in May 2020 but his visit was postponed because of the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This month, Pope Francis is also set to meet US President Joe Biden and outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The report in full, in Italian, may be found here