by Michael Muskal

In addition to a three-city tour in the United States this year, Pope Francis will visit South America and Africa, it was reported on Monday. The pope said he will visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay as well as the Central African Republic and Uganda. Details on the trip were still pending.

In the United States, Pope Francis is planning on visiting New York, Washington and Philadelphia. Francis said he planned to canonize the 17th-century missionary Junipero Serra, who established nine missions in California, during the Washington leg of the U.S. trip. More details about the pope's U.S. visit were reported over the weekend by the Catholic News Agency, which attributed plans to Archbishop Bernardito Auza, one of the organizers.

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Source: http://www.latimes.com/