Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - The programme of Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming apostolic journey to Poland May 25 and 28 was made public today at the Holy See Press Room. The Holy Father will depart from Rome's Fiumicino airport at 8.40 a.m. on Thursday May 25 arriving in Warsaw at 11 a.m. Following the welcome ceremony he will hold a meeting with clergy in the cathedral of St. John. At 5.45 p.m. the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the president of Poland at the presidential palace before taking part in an ecumenical gathering at the Lutheran church of the Most Holy Trinity.
On Friday May 26 Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square. In the afternoon he will travel by helicopter to Czestochowa where he will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Jasna Gora and meet with religious, seminarians and representatives of Catholic movements and institutes of consecrated life. He will then travel to Krakow where he will spend the night at the archbishop's residence. The following day the Pope will celebrate a private Mass at the archbishop's residence before travelling by car to Wadowice where he will visit the basilica of the Immaculate Conception and the house in which John Paul II was born, later meeting local people in the town's Rynek Square. At midday he is due to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. On his return to Krakow he will visit the shrine of Divine Mercy and Wawel Cathedral and at 7 p.m., meet with young people in the city's Blonie Park.
At 9.45 a.m. on Sunday, May 28, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass in Blonie Park and pray the Regina Coeli. After lunch he will travel by car from the archbishop's palace in Krakow to Auschwitz. After visiting the former concentration camp and the center for dialogue and prayer he will participate in a prayer meeting in memory of victims in the former concentration camp of Birkenau. At 6.30 p.m., the Pope will travel directly from Birkenau to Krakow Balice airport. Following the departure ceremony, his aircraft will take off at 8 p.m. and arrive in Rome around 9.15 p. m. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 26/4/2006 - righe 25, parole 341)
