Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in early June next year.The Cypriot government announced the visit on its Web site Oct. 1 and the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, confirmed the news the same day.
During the trip, the pope will deliver to church leaders from the Middle East a summary of topics to be discussed at the October 2010 special Synod of Bishops on the Middle East, according to the Web site of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
The pope had been invited by the president of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias; by Catholic leaders in Cyprus; and by Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus.
While no official program has been finalized, the Franciscan Custody Web site said the pope is expected to be in Cyprus June 4-6. It said he would stay in the capital, Nicosia, and make a brief visit to Paphos where St. Paul preached.
Pope Benedict will be the first pope in modern times to visit the Mediterranean island, the Web site said.
Meanwhile, other church leaders in the region said they were thrilled about the pope's expected visit.
In a brief communique sent to the Vatican Oct. 1, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem, Maronite Archbishop Joseph Soueif of Cyprus, and Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, said it was "with great pleasure (that we) announce that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, accepting the invitation addressed to him by the president of the republic and of their local churches, has the intention to visit Cyprus at the end of next spring."
The pope is also expected to make separate trips to Malta, Great Britain and the Marian shrine of Fatima in Portugal in 2010.
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SIC: CNS