VATICAN - Benedict XVI to make Pastoral Visit to Montecassino on May 24th

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – This Sunday, May 24, the Holy Father Benedict XVI will make a pastoral visit to Cassino and Montecassino, Italy. The Holy See Press Office has released the following itinerary for the visit. The Holy Father will depart from the Vatican heliport at 9 a.m. and is expected to land at Cassino's Salveti sports ground half an hour later. At 10.15 a.m. he will preside at a Eucharistic concelebration and pronounce a homily in the city's Piazza Miranda. Then, having prayed the Regina Coeli, he will travel by car to the abbey of Montecassino, making a brief stop on the way at the "Casa della Carita" (House of Charity) in Cassino. At 1.30 p.m. the Holy Father will have lunch at the abbey of Montecassino. Then, having addressed a brief greeting to the monastic community, at 5 p.m. he will celebrate Vespers with Benedictine abbots and communities of Benedictine monks and nuns in the basilica of the abbey, where he will also pronounce a homily. Subsequently he will make a private visit to the Polish military cemetery at Montecassino. The Pope will depart by helicopter at 6.30. p.m. and is expected to reach the Vatican at 7 p.m. On the occasion of the Holy Father's visit, Agenzia Fides will publish a dossier on the figure of Saint Benedict tomorrow, May 23. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 22/5/2009)