Pontiff was guest of Che Tempo Che Fa in 2022.

Pope Francis is to return as a guest of the popular Italian television chat show Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday 14 January, two years after his last appearance on the programme.

The show's host Fabio Fazio announced the news on Tuesday, writing on social media: "It is with great emotion that I have the pleasure of announcing that next Sunday's guest on Che Tempo Che Fa will be His Holiness Pope Francis."

The last time that the pontiff was a guest on the show was in February 2022 when Che Tempo che Fa was aired on state broadcaster RAI 3.

However last year Fazio made the move to Nove, a channel owned by Discovery Italia, after three decades at RAI.

Con grande emozione ho il piacere di annunciare che l’ospite di domenica prossima di @chetempochefa sarà S. S. Papa Francesco. pic.twitter.com/fxoJMQtkNW

— Fabio Fazio (@fabfazio) January 9, 2024

Fazio will once again interview Francis, 87, via video link from his Vatican residence, with the programme scheduled to air on Sunday at 19.30 on Nove.

Despite moving away from the state broadcaster, Fazio continues to enjoy high ratings on his show whose recent guests have included Gino Cecchettin, Liliana Segre and Fedez.

Although rare for a pope to participate in an Italian TV talk show, Francis is not the first pontiff to do so.

On 13 October 1998, John Paul II spoke live by telephone during an episode of Porta a Porta dedicated to the 20 years of his pontificate, to say "thank you", taking the show's conductor Bruno Vespa by surprise.

Photo credit: Alessia Pierdomenico / Shutterstock.com.