In 2006 More Than 3 Million People Met Pope

More than 3 million people participated in public meetings with the Pope, held in Vatican or at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.Full text of the news in Czech: HERE.

Vatican: According to the data released by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, a number of 3,222,820 people attended the Wednesday general audiences, special audiences, liturgical celebrations, and Sunday Angelus prayers during the course of the year 2006.

The general audiences, held on Wednesday in St Peter's Square and the Paul VI Hall, attracted 1,031,500 people. This figure reflects the number of tickets distributed, and does not consider many other faithful who participate without tickets.

The Angelus prayers at mid-Sunday at St Peter's Square were attended by 1,295,000 people, while more than half a million attended the various liturgical ceremonies presided by the Pope Benedict XVI, most of them – 196 thousand, in April, at Easter celebrations.