00 16/08/2009 20:06


Still bringing this thread up to date.



Posted 7/16/09 in the BENEDICT thread:
(I am including the Pope's previously unprogrammed visit to the Cathedral of Aosta during his Les Combes vacation as a 'pastoral visit'.)






Pope Benedict to pay homage
to St. Anselm on July 24
at Aosta Cathedral




AOSTA, July 16, 2009 (Translated from ANSA) - Pope Benedict XVI will pay homage to St. Anselm of Canterbury, a native of Aosta, whose ninth death centenary is being observed this year, when he visits the Cathedral of Aosta on Friday afternoon, July 24, to celebrate Vespers with the diocesan clergy=, religious and seminarians.

The Cathedral of Aosta, dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption, recently underwent extensive restoration in preparation for the Anselmian Year (Anno Anselmiano) observed by the region of Val D'Aosta and the diocese.

An addition to the cathedral for this jubilee year is a 'Tribute to Saint Anselm' cenotaph executed by English sculptor Stephen Cox which has been set up at the southern entrance to the church.

The Pope will also use the occasion for his now-customary question-and-answer session with the diocesan clergy.

After John Paul II, who came to Aosta for a pastoral visit in 1984, Benedict XVI will be the second Pope to visit the Cathedral, which was built in the 11th century on the site of a 4th century church, and extensively remodelled in the 16th century.



In the second picture of the bottom panel above, St. Anselm on the left facade of the Cathedral of Aosta.

The region has planned a program of religious and cultural events to celebrate the life and thought of Anselm, one of the great medieval doctors of the Church, who was a Benedictine monk, theologian and philosopher, and to foster appreciation for the region's cultural patrimony.


P.S. reports that the Pope will not hold a Q&A with the clergy this time. He will celebrate Vespers with them and give a homily.