Pope's first trip outside Rome to show solidarity with African refugees Pope Francis has chosen the southern Italian island of Lampedusa for his first trip outside Rome, to show solidarity with tens of thousands of African refugees who each year brave a perilous journey there in flimsy boats, the Vatican said on Monday. Pope Francis will make the trip days after publishing his first encyclical, or doctrinal letter, entitled "Light of Faith," which will build on work begun by retired Pope Benedict XVI, and be released on Friday, the Vatican said. The small island, Italy's southernmost point, is the conduit for mostly African immigrants fleeing conflict or economic hardship in order to enter the European Union. The Vatican said Pope Francis was "profoundly touched" by the flood of migrants, and would throw a wreath of flowers into the sea during the visit on July 8 in memory of the many who have drowned off the island. The pontiff will also meet groups of immigrants who have made the crossing, and will celebrate a mass in a sports centre. A holding centre on Lampedusa built to hold 380 has long been overwhelmed, and its predicament has become a symbol in Europe and Italy for those who see immigration as out of control. Lampedusa's regular population of about 6,000 has often been outnumbered by migrants sleeping in improvised tent encampments dotted around the island, which in normal times lives from fishing and tourism. Over 50,000 people arrived there in a surge caused by unrest in North Africa in 2011, and recent good weather has caused another increase in the hundreds arriving each week. Encyclicals are the highest form of papal writing and give the clearest indication of what the pope and the Vatican think about specific social and moral issues. Pope Benedict wrote three encyclicals during his papacy.