Pope Francis planning to attend COP26 summit in Glasgow

Pope Francis is set to attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow when it is due to be held later this year.

Despite Covid and concerns world leaders may not travel to attend the climate conference, which has already been postponed once due to the global pandemic, the head of the Catholic church is hoping to attend the conference.

In an interview with Vatican News, US president Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate John Kerry said the Pope “intends to attend” after he met with the pontiff in the Vatican on Saturday.

Pope Francis is set to attend COP26 in Glasgow later this year.

He said: “Well the Pope is one of the great voices of reason and compelling moral authority on the subject of the climate crisis.

"He has been ahead of the curve, he has been a leader. His encyclical Laudato si’ is really a very, very powerful document, eloquent and morally very persuasive.

"I think his voice will be a very important voice leading up to and through the Glasgow conference, which I believe he hopefully intends to attend.

"So, we need everybody in this fight. All the leaders of the world need to come together and every country needs to do its part.

"And I think His Holiness speaks with a moral authority that is quite separate. It’s unique and we need all the power we can bring to the table.”

Such a visit would be the first papal visit to Scotland since Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in 2010 where he celebrated an open-air mass in Glasgow, attended by 70,000 people.

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