Parish priests in Italy's north-western seaport Savona have said Pope Benedict XVI's scheduled May visit to their town risks being "a spectacular rather than a spiritual event".The priests raised their concern in the latest issue of their monthly publication, Letimbro, in which they cast doubt over the usefulness of Benedict's visit.
"Will Benedict XVI's visit serve any purpose?" the priests ask in an article in which they criticize the brevity - just three hours - of the pontiff's planned stop-over in their town.
But Savona's Bishop Vittorio Lupi, has defended Benedict's whistle-stop visit.
"Even a visit of just a few hours can be important for the faithful," Lupi was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency on Saturday.
Still, the bishop, who only took over at the diocese a week ago, said the priests' "apprehension is justified" and that the short visit needed to be "adequately prepared".
Benedict's trip will mark the first time a pontiff has visited Savona since Pope Pius VII went to pray at a local shrine in 1815 to give thanks for the fall of Napoleon.
The French emperor had kept the pontiff - who disapproved of many of Napoleon's conquests - as a virtual prisoner for several years confining him to Savona for most of that time.
Benedict is also expected to pray at the shrine of Mary the Merciful, on May 17 and then celebrate Mass in Savona's main square before travelling on to Genoa.
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