(ROME) – Pope Francis flew out of Italy on Wednesday headed for Colombia, with his plane forced to change route because of Hurricane Irma, which is powering across the northern Caribbean.
The Alitalia aircraft had been expected to fly over the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, but will instead shift south and cross the islands of Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad, a Vatican official said.
Recent forecasts show that Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, will hit Puerto Rico later on Wednesday.
Francis, making his 20th foreign trip as pontiff and his fifth to his native Latin America, will spend five days in Colombia to encourage a peace process that ended half a century of war between the state and the guerrilla group FARC.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- For People With Disabilities, Losing Abortion Access Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
- Inside the Clandestine Efforts to Smuggle Starlink Internet Into Iran
- How to Help the Victims and Community After the Monterey Park Shooting
- The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2023 Oscar Nominations
- Talking Less Will Get You More
- Kamala Harris Subtly Emerges as Powerful White House Asset
- How Avatar: The Way of Water Became the 6th Movie in History to Make $2 Billion
- Is There Really No Safe Amount of Drinking?
- How Our Cells Strategize To Keep Us Alive