Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Sunday to guard against spiritual groups that stoke political divisions, speaking during a one-day visit to Corsica, the first by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.At a conference on religion across the Mediterranean, the pontiff warned against varieties of spirituality that "seek self-aggrandisement by fuelling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and exclusivist attitudes"."The Church's pastors (are) called to be vigilant, to exercise discernment and to be constantly attentive to (these) popular forms of religiosity," the pope said.Francis, making his third and probably last foreign trip of 2024, did not name any specific religious groups.Corsica, like much of France, has a long history of lay Catholic associations, known as confraternities. They usually focus on spiritual matters but sometimes play a role in local politics.The pope will spend about nine hours in Ajaccio, Corsica's capital, on Sunday. After attending the conference, he will celebrate an outdoor Mass with local Catholics and will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron.Visiting places that often do not draw international attention is part of Francis' policy of highlighting people and problems in what he calls the "peripheries" of the world. Over his 11-year papacy he has still not visited most of the capitals of Western Europe, including Paris.Macron had invited Francis to attend the Dec. 7 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed the medieval building. The pope decided not to go, and the two will instead meet briefly at Ajaccio's airport on Sunday before Francis heads back to Rome.
