A delegation from the Vatican is expected to visit the Kingdom before the end of this month to prepare for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the region in May. "The Vatican delegation’s mission is to review the events proposed by local church planners and help fine-tune the details,” said Roman Catholic priest in Jordan and chief editor of Catholic news site abouna.org, Father Rifat Bader, who is familiar with the visit’s preparations.
The visit was initially announced last year but the Israeli offensive in Gaza late last year and in January cast a shadow on the plan before the pontiff, according to news reports, announced he was preparing for the visit, which will also include Israel and the Palestinian lands.
Vatican sources, quoted by Reuters, said the trip, the first by a Pope to the Holy Land since John Paul II visited in 2000, was expected in May.
"The official announcement is customarily made two months ahead of the Pope's visit," said Monsignor Michael Crotty, charge d’affaires at the Apostolic Nunciatures in Amman in a telephone interview with The Jordan Times.
It is the wish of any Pope to visit the Holy Land, Crotty said.
He gave no specific details about the pontiff’s itinerary, but said the Baptism Site near the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo in Madaba are very likely destinations.
The Christian community in Jordan looks forward to the Holy See's visit, said Father Bader.
At a mass held at the Baptism Site early last month, Jordanian Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal underlined the upcoming visit as part of the Pope's spiritual pilgrimage as well as “to pray with and for us”, the people of Jordan and Jerusalem.
According to Father Bader, there are 200,000 Christians in Jordan, including 50,000 Roman Catholics.
Father Bader said the Pope’s visit would enhance the diplomatic relation between Jordan and the Vatican.
The visit also aims to support Jordan's important part in the peace process and further promotes Islamic-Christian dialogue, he added.
The 265th reigning Pope, born in 1927, is the head of the Roman Catholic Church and of the Vatican City State.
Pope Paul VI was the first pontiff to visit Jordan and Palestine in 1964.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: JT)