Pope Francis is in Georgia for the first time. The head of the Catholic Church was invited to the ex-Soviet Republic by his counterpart in the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II.<br /><br /> During his two-day trip to the predominantly Orthodox country, the Pontiff will give a holy mass at the Meshki Stadium in Tbilisi. Following that, he’ll head a few kilometres away to Mtskheta, the former capital of Eastern Georgia and the site of a number of ancient churches.<br /><br /> He will travel to Azerbaijan on Sunday (October 2).<br /><br /> Today I leave for Georgia and Azerbaijan. Please accompany me with your prayers so we can sow peace, unity and reconciliation together.— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 30, 2016<br /><br /> On Friday (September 30), he met President Giorgi Margvelashvili at the presidential palace in Tbilisi, where he called for called for a peaceful coexistence “among all peoples and states.”<br /><br /> “Indeed, in far too many areas of the Earth, there seems to be a dominant way of thinking which undermines the coexistence of legitimate differences and disagreements – which can always arise – within a climate of civilised dialogue where reason, modernisation and responsibility prevail,” Francis told those gathered at the palace.<br /><br /> Differences and disagreements were clearly visible outside Tbilisi’s international airport when he arrived, where a group protested against the pope’s visit.<br />
