Pope Francis travels to Geneva today, 21 June, on a visit that has been described as an 'ecumenical pilgrimage' during which he will mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the World Council of Churches.

During the day the Holy Father will participate in an ecumenical meeting at the WCC headquarters; he will lead an ecumenical prayer service and he will lunch at the WCC's Bossey Ecumenical Institute, as well as meet privately with the President of the Swiss Confederation and celebrate Holy Mass at the Palaexpo convention center before departing for Rome.

The 70th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Geneva is a journey towards unity. Pope Francis said so while greeting journalists aboard the plane that brought him from Rome to Switzerland.An ecumenical journey for the third Pontiff to go to the Ecumenical Council of Churches after Paul VI (1969) and John Paul II (1982).

“I greet you all and thank you for the work you will do on this journey – Bergoglio said, addressing the journalists travelling in the back of the plane - A journey that is toward unity, with desires for unity”.

Francis then greeted the 61 accompanying journalists one by one. A Swiss journalist gave the Pontiff a puppet of St. Bernard’s dog with a chocolate-filled barrel as a gift. To the Tv2000 correspondent who asked him to place more women in key positions of the Roman Curia, and inviting him to appoint a woman to the top of the IOR, Francis jokingly answered quoting the name of the president of the International Monetary Fund: “We are negotiating with Christine Lagarde.”

The WCC is the broadest and most inclusive organisations in the modern ecumenical movement, working towards Christian unity.

It brings together churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 500 million Christians and including most of the world's Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches. Today it includes 350 member churches.

Speaking to Vatican News, Rev Dr Olaf Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches said the Pope's desire to mark the Council's 70th anniversary in person is a powerful sign of his consideration for the work being done by the churches to achieve full Christian Unity.

Rev Tveit said that by accepting the WCC's invitation, not only is Pope Francis recognising the work the WCC has achieved during the past 70 years, he is also highlighting the value of the Catholic Church's relationship with the Council.

"We have had a joint working group and we have worked in many ways together but now he affirms it with his own presence" he said.

This, he said, is seen and recognized and appreciated very much by the WCC, but also by member churches around the world. And this visit, he added, will certainly have a very positive effect also on relationships both on the local and national level in many different contexts around the world.

"It's not just about Geneva and the Vatican. This is about how we are Church together in many places. If the Pope can come and visit the WCC, why cannot our member churches and the Catholic Church be together in many places in the world?" he said.

Regarding the journey accomplished by the WCC in the 70 years since its foundation, Tveit said "we are definitely in another place than we were 70 years ago... What they could hardly even imagine then, is almost taken for granted now" he said.

"I think we also can see that these 70 years have been a long pilgrimage during which we have learnt a lot about what it means to live with diversity, with differences, but still have a strong common calling and common vision, and some very important common experiences... We have learnt from our experiences, Tveit concluded, how to reconcile but also how to speak the truth to one another: "and in this the fellowship has grown."