Pope Benedict XVI will be the first Christian church head to pay tribute to the memory of St Wenceslas, the patron saint of Czechs, during his visit to the Czech Republic in September, church representatives told journalists Friday. The Pope will visit Stara Boleslav, central Bohemia, on September 28, the day when Czechs commemorate the martyr death of St Wenceslas who was killed there in 935.
Two Benedict XVI's predecessors visited Stara Boleslav, one of the oldest and most important places of pilgrimage from the Roman Catholic point of view in the Czech lands, but it was still before they were elected pope, journalists were told.
In 1588 Stara Boleslav welcomed cardinal Hipolit Aldobrandini who later become Pope Clement VIII.
In 1929 priest Angelo Roncalli arrived in Stara Boleslav. In 1958 he became Pope John XXIII.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the basilica of St Wenclesas from the 11th century in the morning before the mass on September 28.
He will then address participants in the St Wenceslas pilgrimage that is expected to attract some 30,000 people.
The Pope will stay in the Czech Republic on September 26-28.
"The Holy Father must take care of all people, this is the content of his work. This means he must take care even of the 'sinners,' that is of us," former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, who is planning to go to Stara Boleslav, told CTK.
When he spoke about sinners, he was alluding to that Czechs are considered atheists in their majority.
The thousand-years old tradition of Stara Boleslav pilgrimages was interrupted by the communist regime.
It was resumed after the regime's fall in late 1989.
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