Pope will celebrate his birthday and election anniversary in USA

The 6-day visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the USA was announced yesterday by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi. On 15-20 Apr 2008, the Holy Father will visit UN seat in New York and will be received by President George W. Bush.CZECH

Baltimore (USA): Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, confirmed the dates of the papal trip and announced the Pope's itinerary yesterday at the opening of the autumn meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

According to this preliminary program, the Pope will arrive to Washington on 15 Apr 2008. Next they, on his 81st birthday, he will be received by President George Bush and in the afternoon, he will address the US bishops.

On 17 Apr, the Holy Father will celebrate Mass at the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium in Washington and later that day he will meet with directors of Catholic universities and colleges and diocesan educational leaders at The Catholic University of America in Washington. He is also expected to attend an interreligious meeting at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.

On April 18, the Pope will be in New York to address the United Nations in the morning and attend an ecumenical meeting in the afternoon. The following day, the third anniversary of his election as Pope, he will concelebrate Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in the morning and meet with youths and seminarians in the afternoon.

While in New York, Benedict XVI will visit 'Ground Zero' on the morning of 20 Apr. Ground Zero is the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood before they were brought down by terrorist attacks on 11 Sep 2001. This will be an act of 'solidarity with those who have died and their families and all who wish for an end of violence and the implementation of peace,' Archbishop Sambi said. In the afternoon, he will celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium, which will be the final event of his US trip.

Pope John Paul II, who visited the United States seven times during his pontificate and two times he addressed the UN (1979 and 1995). Pope Paul VI likewise addressed the United Nations in 1965.

Archbishop Sambi expressed his hope that Pope Benedict's visit to the United States would provide a 'new spring' and 'new Pentecost' for the Catholic Church in this country.