Pope Benedict XVI will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and representatives of the country's Jewish community during a stop in Paris on his September pilgrimage to the Roman Catholic shrine of Lourdes, the Vatican said Friday.Benedict will pay a visit to Sarkozy at the Elysee palace in Paris on the first day of his Sept. 12-15 trip.
He will then meet members of Western Europe's largest Jewish community before leading a ceremony at Notre Dame cathedral.
The pope's pilgrimage to Lourdes on Sept. 13 marks 150 years since an illiterate peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous said she had visions of the Virgin Mary in the southwestern French town.
Thousands of Catholics have since said they were healed of illness after praying and bathing in a spring at the site of St. Bernadette's 1858 vision.
During his three-day stay at the shrine, Benedict will take part in processions and celebrate Mass with ailing pilgrims.
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