Pope refuses to stay in “expensive hotel” in Mozambique

Pope Francis has ruled out staying in an expensive hotel during his three-day visit to Mozambique next month, the country’s Domingo newspaper reported.

According to Monsignor António Juliasse Ferreira Sandramo, the pontiff wanted a straightforward accommodation and vetoed the first choice sent by the planning team to the Vatican.

“The Holy Father wanted a very simple hotel, and rejected the first choice sent to the Vatican, asking for less expensive accommodation for his secretaries, undersecretaries, bishops, and cardinals,” the Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo said on Sunday.

The papal entourage would consist of about fifty members and should stay at Hotel Africa, in the capital, Maputo, which gets a score of 3.5 on some travel sites.

This will be the second papal visit to this southern African country. John Paul II visited it 31 years ago.

It has also been reported that the sale of beverages was banned in the vicinity of Maputo’s Zimpeto National Stadium on the day the Pope celebrates Mass there. The pontiff then leaves for Madagascar to continue the second leg of his tour in southern Africa.

Pope Francis has already visited five other African nations since becoming head of the Catholic Church: Kenya, Central African Republic, Uganda, Egypt, and Morocco.