Thanks to Lella and her blog
for leading me to the website of the Roman parish of Regina Pacis
(Queen of Peace), which carries an item that is not even posted yet
on the Diocese of Rome's news site! It's a very informative website
that posts the full text of the Pope's various homilies, addresses
and messages, in addition to its parish coverage.
Benedict XVI to visit
terminal patients in a Rome hospice
and the Caritas hostel near
Rome's main train station
Translated from the website of
VATICAN CITY - On December 13, Pope Benedict XVI will visit a Roman center for terminally ill patients, and on February 14, the Caritas hostel near Rome's main train station (Stazione Termini).
Along with the celebration of Vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls, on the eve of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 26, these will be the Holy Father's only visits outside the Vatican in early 2010. [NB: The schedule also includes his visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome on January 17.]
The Santo Cuore Hospice in Trastevere was set up when palliative treatment for terminally ill patients became a public policy issue in Italy.
Earlier, Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the Pope's vicar in Rome, announced that the Holy Father will be visiting the hostel Don Luigi di Liegro, run by Caritas of Rome, on February 14. It also has an outpatient medical center and a soup kitchen.
The Caritas center is in the parish of Regina Pacis.
Cardinal Vallini said the Holy Father's visit would be "a concrete sign of his closeness and dedication" to the European campaign against poverty that the European Union is observing in the year 2010.
He said it was the Pope's response, as Bishop of Rome, to the call made by the European Catholic Episcopal Conference addressed to the bishops of the Continent to promote the campaign by visiting charitable institutions in their respective dioceses.