On
Friday 4 October Pope Francis will visit the city of Assisi, the
birthplace of St. Francis. The Pope will depart from the Vatican at 7 a.m. by helicopter and will land around three quarters of an hour later at the sports field of the Seraphic Institute of Assisi, where he will meet with disabled and sick children.
At
8.45 a.m. he will make a private visit to the Shrine of St. Damian to
pray, and from there will proceed to the archbishop's residence, where
he will meet with the poor assisted by Caritas.
After this meeting he
will transfer by car to the Superior Basilica of St. Francis where he
will be received by the convent friars and will pray in the crypt where
the saint is buried.
At
11 a.m. he will celebrate Holy Mass in Piazza San Francesco. Following
the Eucharist he will proceed to the Caritas reception centre near the
railway station of Santa Maria degli Angeli where he will have lunch
with the poor from the city centre.
After lunch he will make a private
visit to the Hermitage of the Prisons, where he will pray in St.
Francis' cell.
At 3.15 p.m. he will meet with clergy, consecrated
persons and members of the diocesan pastoral council in the cathedral of
St. Rufino.
From there he will transfer to the Basilica of St. Clare to
venerate the body of the saint and pray in silence before the cross of
St. Damian.
He will subsequently proceed to the Porziuncola in Santa
Maria degli Angeli and at 5.45 p.m. will meet with young people on the
terrace in front of the basilica.
At 6.30 he will transfer to Rivotorto
where he will pray privately in St. Francis' hovel and at 7.15 p.m.,
after greeting the authorities who received him in the morning, will
begin his return trip by helicopter to the Vatican, where he is
scheduled to arrive at 8 p.m.