ROME, APRIL 20, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican confirmed today the highlights of Benedict XVI’s May-September schedule, which will bring the 83-year-old Pontiff on three more international trips.
The first stop on his May calendar is Turin, Italy, where the Pope will view the renowned Shroud of Turin, believed to be the cloth in which Christ was buried.
The Vatican confirmed his schedule for the May 2 trip: He will arrive in Turin at 9:15 a.m., and celebrate a public Mass at 10:15, followed by the Regina Caeli. At 1:30 p.m., he will lunch with bishops of the region, and later that afternoon he will meet with youth.
The Pope will venerate the Shroud at 5:30 p.m., and later that evening he will have a meeting with those suffering illnesses. He’ll be back in Rome at 8:30 p.m.
A few days later, May 11-14, the Holy Father will make his 15th international trip, visiting Portugal.
He will close May with a celebration of Pentecost on the 23rd, celebrating a 10 a.m. Mass in St. Peter’s.
June
In June, Benedict XVI will mark the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on June 3, celebrating a 7 p.m. Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by the traditional procession.
The next day, he will begin a three-day trip to Cyprus, returning to Rome on June 6.
June 10-11 will bring a close to the Year for Priests: On the 10th, the Pope will have a 6 p.m. prayer vigil with priests in St. Peter’s Square. And the next day, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, he will have a 10 a.m. closing Mass for the year, also in St. Peter’s Square.
The theme of the priesthood will continue with a 9:30 a.m. Mass on June 20, when the Pope will perform priestly ordinations for seminarians of the Diocese of Rome.
On June 28 and June 29, the Pontiff will mark the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, celebrating a vigil at 6 p.m. at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, and then a 9:30 a.m. Mass the next day at St. Peter’s, which will include the imposition of the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops.
July, August, September
July and August will be calmer months, with only one main activity announced for each: a pastoral visit to Sulmona, Italy, on July 4 for the 800th anniversary of the birth of Pope St. Celestine V; and on Aug. 15, an 8 a.m. Mass for the solemnity of the Assumption, celebrated at the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo.
On Sept. 5, the Holy Father will made a visit to Carpineto Romano, Italy, for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pope Leo XIII.
And finally, he will take his 17th international trip from Sept. 16 to Sept. 19, visiting the United Kingdom.
