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(Vatican Radio) The Italian newspaper La Stampa on Sunday published excerpts from a book, due for publication this week, featuring Pope Francis talking about the journeys he has made since the start of his pontificate.

The book by Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli reveals that the Pope doesn’t like travelling very much but feels the need to be near to people and to “sow seeds of hope”

From the first surprise visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa, to his most recent trip to the Swedish cities of Lund and Malmo for a joint Lutheran-Catholic commemoration of the Reformation, the Pope speaks about people he has met and the experiences that have personally enriched him.

These journeys, the 80 year old Pope tells Tornielli, are heavy going, psychologically as well as physically and he wishes had had more time to prepare himself for the trips.

Pope Francis reiterates that he does not fear for his own safety but that he does worry about the risks facing all those who attend large papal events.

The Pope thanks in particular the Swiss Guards and all those who accompany him on his travels, insisting that despite security concerns, he doesn’t want to stay behind barriers or travel in bullet proof cars.

The Italian language volume entitled ‘In Viaggio’ or ‘On a journey’ will be available in bookshops from Tuesday, priced 18 euros.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ appeal on Sunday for care of the homeless comes as icy temperatures and blizzards across Europe  have left at least 20 people dead, with the situation especially critical in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

From Budapest, regional correspondent Stefan Bos reports on the worst of the winter weather.

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Russia experienced its coldest Orthodox Christmas in 120 years as night temperatures dropped to minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit).  The Christmas celebrations in Russia and elsewhere in the region were overshadowed by reports that the ice spell is claiming lives especially in former Soviet satellite states such as Poland where at least 10 people died of cold in recent days.

Several winter related deaths are also reported in neighboring Ukraine, a nation already facing turmoil because of an ongoing conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in the east.

The blizzards and dangerously low temperatures have also left villages cut off and caused power outages as the extremely cold weather continues for a fourth day in most of Eastern Europe.

Dozens of villages in the remote Pestar region of Serbia were sealed off Sunday by heavy snow. That prompted the evacuation of some 100 people by emergency crews. And numerous northern villages in neighboring Bulgaria were left without electricity and water.

Power outages were also reported in parts of Bosnia Herzegovina. People have been seen struggling to remove heavy snow in Sarajevo and elsewhere. Power cuts also happened in Serbia.

Polar temperatures caused some rivers to freeze, while ice and snow slowed road traffic and led to flight cancellations throughout the region. Police in Bulgaria said a passenger train was derailed Sunday after it hit a pile of snow in the central part of the country, but no injuries were reported.

Earlier in neighboring Romania authorities said 90 people were rescued from stranded cars and that crews were working to save people stuck in some 30 cars on a major highway. More than 40 trains were not running due to snow on the tracks.

Here in Hungary accidents have been reported as temperatures dropped to minus 28 Celsius. Police and medical staff rushed to help some homeless people. In Hungary and elsewhere in Eastern Europe there are thousands of homeless people, with many spending the night without shelter.

The winter weather hit also other parts of Europe, blanketing the Greek islands and southern Italy in snow, as Italian authorities cancelled several ferries and flights, while schools in the south were expected to close on Monday.

Several homeless were among those who died in Italy where weather conditions also impact areas already suffering under the aftermath of recent earthquakes.

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Vatican City, Jan 8, 2017 / 01:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a new interview published Sunday, Pope Francis said that though his many papal trips are often very tiring, both from a physical and mental standpoint, the people he encounters and the testimonies he hears make all of it worthwhile.

“I always carry with me the faces, testimonials, images, experiences...” he said. “An unimaginable wealth, which always makes me say, it was worth it.”

The Pope’s comments on traveling were made in an interview with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli of the newspaper La Stampa and the online outlet “Vatican Insider.” The interview is part of his new book on the Pope’s trips, coming out Jan. 10.

In the interview, the Pope explains that he doesn’t really like to travel much, saying that when he was a bishop in Buenos Aires, he preferred to stay in the area of his archdiocese. “Honestly, no. I never liked to travel,” he said. “And I would never have imagined doing so many trips...”

His first trip as Pope was to Lampedusa, an Italian island, on July 8, 2013. This trip was not planned, nor were there any official invitations. But, being moved by the news of migrants dying at sea there, he felt he “had to go,” he said. 

“I saw pictures of the rescue of the survivors, I received testimonies on the generosity and hospitality of the inhabitants of Lampedusa. It was important to go there.”

Pope Francis’ next trip was to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for World Youth Day at the end of July 2013 was, of course, “already on the agenda,” he said. But after that “came another invitation, and then another. I simply said yes,” Francis explained.

“And now I feel that I have to travel, to visit the churches, to encourage the seeds of hope we have.”

These trips are “heavy,” the Pope said, but for the moment he is able to manage. Even more than the physical exertion required when traveling, he said that the time needed to prepare for each trip is also taxing. Time is spent reading and preparing, in addition to the day’s regular activities, before he leaves.

And when he returns, he usually needs at least a day to rest and recover.

Asked what it is like to be received in the different places and to encounter the enthusiasm of the crowds of people, Francis recalled something a cardinal once said about the donkey Jesus rode during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem: did he “think that those cheers were for him?”

“Here the Pope must be conscious of the fact that he ‘brings’ Jesus,” Pope Francis emphasized. He “testifies to Jesus, to his proximity, closeness and tenderness to all creatures, especially those who suffer.”

For this reason, he said, when crowds shout, “long live the Pope,” he asks them to instead shout, “Long live Jesus!”

Pope Francis then referenced a quote from Pope Paul VI to explain why he thinks it is important to make these papal trips.

“I believe that of all the dignities of a Pope, the most enviable is paternity,” Pope Paul said. 

“Paternity is an emotion that invades the spirit and the heart, that stays every hour of the day, that can’t diminish, but that grows so the number of children grows. It’s a feeling that doesn’t tire one out or cause fatigue, but it gives rest from every cause of exhaustion.”

“Never, not for one minute, did I ever feel tired when I raised my hand to give a blessing,” Pope Paul said. “No, I’ll never get tired of blessing or forgiving.”

Francis said, “I believe those words explain why popes in the contemporary era have decided to travel.”

Despite his previous feelings about traveling, Pope Francis has several big trips planned for 2017, including to Fatima, Portugal May 12-13 for the 100th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima. He will also make a few smaller trips within Italy, such as to Milan in March.

Trips to India and Bangladesh are also being planned for later in the year, with Francis stating in his in-flight interview coming back from Sweden in November that going to Africa is also a possibility.
 

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