Plan for Papal Visit to Paul VI's Birthplace

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will visit Pope Paul VI's birthplace and inaugurate the new premises for an institute dedicated to the 1963-1978 Bishop of Rome.

The Nov. 8 visit to Concesio will occur in the context of the Holy Father's pastoral visit to the Italian province of Brescia, 30 years after Paul VI's death.

The Vatican press office published today the official program for the one-day pastoral visit. The Pope will arrive to Brescia at 9:30 a.m.. He will then make a private visit to the parish church of Botticino Sera, where he will venerate the remains of St. Archangel Tadini.

He will then be welcomed at the Duomo of Brescia cemetery, and will make a brief visit to this church.

A concelebrated Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the Paul VI Square of the city of Brescia. Benedict XVI will deliver the homily and after Mass, he will pray the Angelus and address a few words to the faithful.

At 4 p.m., Benedict XVI will greet the organizers of the visit in the Paul VI Pastoral Center of Brescia.

Once in Concesio, at 4:45 p.m., the Holy Father is scheduled to visit the house where Giovanni Montini, the future Paul VI, was born and the new premises of the Paul VI Institute.

At 5:30 p.m., the official meeting will take place to inaugurate the new premises and to award the sixth Paul VI International Prize in the Vittorio Montini Auditorium of the Paul VI Institute. The Pope will deliver an address during this ceremony.

Later, the Holy Father will visit St. Anthony's parish of Concesio, where Montini was baptized, and give an address.

He is scheduled to be at the Vatican again shortly after 8 p.m.

Benedict XVI's visit to Brescia will be "an intense moment of communion and prayer," said Bishop Luciano Monari of Brescia on April 9, when he announced the Pope's visit.

Joseph Ratzinger was created cardinal by Paul VI, Bishop Monari recalled on that occasion, and "he has always had gratitude and a great love for our Brescian Pope."