The website for the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela says that at 1 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, they were informed on their cellphones to prepare for a mid-morning press conference by their Archbishop, who did not break the confidential news until he met with the canons of the Cathedral and the diocesan council shortly before his news conference. This is the account of the news conference by the Spanish news agency Europa Press.
Behind the scenes of the Pope's
decision to visit Compostela
MADRID, March 3 (Translated from Europa Press)- Pope Benedict XVI has requested "preparations for a very simple visit" when he makes a pilgrimage on November 6 to Santiago de Compostela on the occasion of the Holy Year of St. James, after which he will go on to Barcelona the following day to consecrate the Sagrada Familia temple.
Mons. Barrio announces the good news to his Cathedral Canons and diocesan council, and then at a news conference on Wednesday.
In a press conference this morning, Mons. Julián Barrio Barrio, Archbishop of Compostela, explained that he sent a formal invitation to the Holy Father in October 2009 requesting his presence at some time during the Jacobean Holy Year of 2010.
In addition, the invitation was also extended by Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero when Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of state, visited Spain last year, and in the same month, October 2009, by the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Francisco Vazques, when they met with the Pope.
Mons. Barrio said the invitation had been 'very well received" by the Pope, and that it became a question of finding a date that would fit into the Pope's travel schedule in 2010.
"It was not easy", the bishop said. Initially, t was considered to have the visit take place in 2011 when the Pope would be coming to Spain for the World Youth Day in Madrid in August. 2011 is another Jubilee Year for the Diocese of Compostela, which will mark the eighth centenary of the consecration of the Cathedral. But this option was quickly ruled out, he said.
Then, last Thursday, he received a communication from the Vatican - "at the time, strictly confidential" - notifying him that the Pope would visit Compostela on November 6 and thus, be able to make the Jacobean jubilee pilgrimage.
On Monday, March 1, Mons. Barrio, accompanied by the president of the autonomous region of Galicia (where Compostela is located), were granted an audience with the Pope, presumably to discuss the visit.
He said the private audience had been previously scheduled in response to his request - "one that the Archbishop of Santiago makes every Holy Year to thank the Pope for his message sent on the occasion of the opening of the Holy Door... and to present him with the commemorative medallion."
In turn, he invited the President of the Galician Junta to accompany him, and so, they came to the Vatican as a delegation, with other officials who would be involved in the visit.
Mons. Barrio said that the Pope expressed his desire to come to Santiago "as a pilgrim of faith and witness to the risen Christ". The archbishop said the papal visit was the 'golden brooch' to the celebration of the Jacobean Holy Year.
Although the program for the short visit has yet to be determined, he said the Pope expressed his desire for "a very simple visit" on a day that he wished to "dedicate completely to St. James".
He said that first, he had a 'truly intimate' conversation with the Pope for twenty minutes before the Pope greeted the president and his entourage.
The only previous papal visit to the shrine of St. James the Greater in Compostela was by John Paul II in 1982, also a Jacobean Holy Year. A plaque at the tomb of the Apostle recalls his message urging Europe to recover its Christian roots.
John Paul I returned to Compostela in 1989 for World Youth Day.
Here is the wrap-up report by the Spanish news agency EFE on the twin announcements yesterday:
Pope favors Spain with
special visits in November
MADRID, March 4 (Translated from EFE) - Benedict XVI will travel on November 6 and 7, respectively, to Santiago de Compostela "to take part as a pilgrim of faith" in the Jacobean Holy Yar, and to Barcelona to consecrate the Sagrada Familia temple, in his second visit to Spain since he was elected Pope in 2005.
The presence of the Pope will serve "to reiterate the Holy See's commitment to Christianity and Europeanism", according to the president of the regional Xunta of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
The Archbishop of Santiago, Julian Barrio, said that during his audience with the Pope last Monday, accompanied by Nunez Feijoo, the Pope had expressed his desire to make 'a very simple visit' to Santiago.
He said that when he first sent the Pope a formal invitation to come to Compostela for the Jacobean Holy Year, it was "very well received" by the Pope and his closest associates.
"From the beginning, the Pope had great interest in being able to join us in the celebration," Barrio said.
On November 7, the Pope will preside at a Solemn Mass to consecrate the still unfinished masterpiece of the late Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi, whose cause for beatification has been elevated to Rome after having concluded its diocesan phase in Barcelona.
[The nave, or central part of the cathedral, will be completed in September and much of the exterior is done, but the final completion is not expected until 2026.]
The Archbishop of Barcelona, Lluís Martínez Sistach, says the Pope's visit has a 'global' significance, since the Sagrada Familia is one of the best-known architectural structures in the world. He said that the roofing of the entire cathedral [a vast space which can accommodate 15,000) would be finished in May.
Mons. Martinez anticipates that the Mass will be 'very beautiful' and will be enhanced by the 'spectacular' features of the church. He also expects the Pope to pray at the crypt of Gaudi, "a man of God... who planned the Sagrada Familia from the roots of his faith" and whose beatification process is under way.
The Spanish bishops conference said the Church in Spain welcomes with joy the twin papal visits and will fully cooperate with the two host dioceses.
"We call on sll the faithful and Christian communities in Spain to offer prayers, starting now, for the success of the Holy Father's visits and for its apostolic fruits", said a note from the bishops's conference.
Almost four years ago, in July 2006, Benedict XVI presided at the conclusion of the V World Encpunter of Families in Valencia, Spain. He will be back in Spain in August 2011 for World Youth Day in Madrid.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2010 13:29]