The Holy Father plans to visit places that marked the life of the Apostle Paul. The trip is the culmination of the papal pilgrimage to places of salvation, which began last year, and took him, spiritually, to Ur of the Chaldeans (as he could not travel to Iraq), and then to Egypt (in Moses´ footsteps), and the Holy Land.
The Pope will depart for Athens from Rome´s Fiumicino airport at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 4. The next day, at 11:45 a.m., he will leave Athens and fly to Damascus, Syria, where he will arrive at 2 p.m. The Pope will stay in Syria until Tuesday, May 8, when he will travel to Gudja, Malta. The Holy Father will return to Rome the following day in the afternoon.
The Vatican said the complete itinerary «will be published as soon as possible.»