The head of the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa is due to arrive in the island today (Monday) for a four-day visit.
Cardinal Wilifred Napier is scheduled to meet with government officials from the International Development Committee.
The senior Vatican official will celebrate mass at St Mary of the Isles Church, in Douglas, on Wednesday.
He said: ‘I’d like to talk about the whole way in which the pope is elected. I think people would be very interested in that.
‘I’d also like to communicate about what the church is doing, and what its challenges are. How we can assist each other spiritually, psychologically and of course financially.’
And he will be visiting Isle of Man Post Office’s headquarters. Integrated Mailing Solutions processes the European donation payments for Cardinal Napier’s charity the Catholic Archdiocese of Durban.
He will have a tour of the headquarters and Hills Meadows site, as well as meet staff involved with processing the donations.
Cardinal Napier was ordained as a priest in 1970, became a bishop in 1980 and succeeded Denis Hurley as Archbishop of Durban in 1992.
He was one of 115 cardinals who took part in the conclave at the Vatican to elect Pope Francis in March.
