Pope Francis has arrived in Egypt to begin his historic visit. Click on the embedded video below to watch live streaming updates of his trip, from the Vatican’s official news site.
His itinerary, from the Vatican via Catholic News Service:
Times listed are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses.
Friday, 28 April (Rome, Cairo)
— 10:45 a.m. (4:45 a.m.), Departure from Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport for Cairo.
— 2 p.m. (8 a.m.), Arrival at Cairo airport. Official welcoming ceremony at the Heliopolis presidential palace. Courtesy visits with el-Sissi and Sheik el-Tayeb. Speeches by the grand imam and the pope to participants in an international conference on peace.
— 4:40 p.m. (10:40 a.m.), Meeting with local authorities. Speeches by el-Sissi and Pope Francis. Courtesy visit to Pope Tawadros. Speeches by Pope Tawadros and Pope Francis.Saturday, 29 April (Cairo, Rome)
— 10:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m.), Mass in Cairo. Homily by pope.
— 12:15 p.m. (6:15 a.m.), Lunch with Egypt’s bishops and the papal entourage.
— 3:15 p.m. (9:15 a.m.), Prayer gathering with clergy, men and women religious, and seminarians. Speech by pope. Farewell ceremony.
— 5 p.m. (11 a.m.), Departure from Cairo airport for Rome.
— 8:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m.), Arrival at Rome’s Ciampino airport.
For more background on Egypt, and for context on the lives and struggles of Coptic Christians, check out these stories from ONE magazine:
Anxiety in Cairo: Christians Confront Challenges and Change
Finding Common Ground
Egypt’s Good Samaritans
Coptic Renaissance
Seeds of Survival: A Family Faces Fear in Egypt
Faith Under Fire: Young Copts Persevere in Egypt