The Vatican said on Wednesday that Pope Francis will not be attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, despite earlier reports that he would be coming.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke says the pope will not be able to attend Friday’s funeral in Jerusalem, noting that he is scheduled to begin a three-day trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan that day.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, after earlier saying the pope would be in attendance, said Wednesday that he was no longer scheduled to attend. It gave no further details.

Source: AFP