Days after Benedict XVI returned from a four-day visit to the United Kingdom, he is already planning his next pastoral trip, to Palermo, Italy.
A Vatican communiqué today detailed the schedule for the Pope’s Oct. 3 visit to the Italian island of Sicily on the occasion of a regional meeting of families and youth. The Pontiff will preside over an outdoor Mass at 10:30 a.m. in the Foro Italico Umberto I, and will then lead the midday angelus.
At 5 p.m. he will meet with priests, religious and seminarians in Palermo’s cathedral.
After this, the Holy Father will address young people gathered in the Piazza Politeama, named after the Politeama Garibaldi Theater, built between 1867 and 1874. Benedict XVI will conclude his visit at the Punta Raisi Airport, where he will depart for Rome.
At a recent press conference, Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo said: “We want to present to the Holy Father and to the whole world the true face of Sicily, which is not at all just about the garbage emergency, Mafia and social problems, but about a history that our saints have marked.”
Pope John Paul II visited the island in 1982 and 1995.
This is Benedict XVI’s fourth pastoral visit within Italy this year. His other visits included: Turin (May), Sulmona (July), and Carpineto Romano (September).
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org)