Russia, Syria geopolitics frame Pope’s Caucasus trip

Pope Francis has arrived Georgia for a weekend of religiously symbolic meetings with Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims and Jews. But geopolitical concerns, including the bloodshed in Syria and the lingering effects of Georgia’s 2008 war with Russia, might overshadow the trip. Francis was greeted in the capital, Tbilisi, by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, the leader of […]

Pope Francis has arrived Georgia for a weekend of religiously symbolic meetings with Catholics, Orthodox, Muslims and Jews. But geopolitical concerns, including the bloodshed in Syria and the lingering effects of Georgia’s 2008 war with Russia, might overshadow the trip.
Francis was greeted in the capital, Tbilisi, by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, the leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia, and hundreds of well-wishers waving Vatican flags.
He then headed into a private meeting with Margvelashvili at the presidential palace.