Following his trip to Colombia in September, Pope Francis will return to South America in January for a visit to Chile and Peru the Vatican has announced today.
The pope will be in Chile from 15-18 January, visiting the cities of Santiago, Temuco and Iquique, the Vatican press office announced on 19 June. He then will fly to Peru and from 18 -21 January, he will visit Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo.
The Vatican had announced in March that the pope would make a pastoral trip to Colombia on 6-11 September.
No mention was made of a possible trip to the pope's homeland, Argentina. He has not returned to the country since he was elected pope in March 2013.
The Peru-Chile trip would be his fourth to South America. In July 2013, he visited Brazil for World Youth Day. In July 2015, he traveled to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. The September trip to Colombia would be his third to the continent.
PICTURE: Pope Francis met Chile's president Michelle Bachelet during a private audience at the Vatican on 5 June, 2015