See preceding page for earlier entries today, 7/2/10.
Italian mountain city to be
the Church's 'pulsating heart'
during Sunday's Papal visit
Rome, Italy, Jul 2, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- On July 4, Pope Benedict XVI will make an Pastoral Visit to the town of Sulmona, Italy. During his visit, which the local region's president said will "in a moment" turn the area into the center of the Universal Church, he will visit Pope Celestine V's relics.
Gianni Chiodi, president of Italy's Abruzzo region where both Sulmona and L'Aquila are located, looked forward to the visit this Sunday saying that "with the presence of the Pontiff, Sulmona and Abruzzo, land in need of hope, rebirth and development, will become for a time the pulsating heart of the Universal Church."
Arriving on Sunday morning by helicopter, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass in the town square, Piazza Garibaldi. Highlights for the day include the inauguration of a house for elderly and sick priests bearing the Pope's name, an encounter with youth in the local cathedral and a visit to the its crypt where he will venerate the relics of Sts. Panfilo and Celestine.
The remains of 13th century Pope Celestine V, known as St. Celestine, were spared in the earthquake in L'Aquila in April 2009 that destroyed the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio where his body was held in a glass casket.
The Holy Father visited the city and venerated Celestine V's relics later that month, placing his Papal pallium upon the saint's body. Later, in Sept. of that year, the glass reliquary was moved to a chapel in the Cathedral of Sulmona where it is still housed.
The Holy Father's visit comes during the Celestine Year proclaimed by him in Aug. 2009 for the 800th anniversary of the the saint's birth.
St. Panfilo, who also lies in the crypt of Sulmona's cathedral, was a 7th century Italian bishop.
The diocesan preparations for the visit continue to be most impressive - far better than for any of the Pope's pastoral visits in Italy, and more detailed than any of the papal visits abroad, comparable only to the Sydney WYD preps! For Sunday, they have prepared flyers which contain the event map, program schedule and papal routes at a glance.
The numbered sites are illustrated below:
They have similar flyers to identify parking places and bus stops, as well as the mountain sites around Sulmona that the Pope will overfly in the helicopter: the Eremo San Onofrio where Pope Celestine V retreated, and the extensive remains of the Tempio Ercole Curino (Hercules Curinus) from Roman antiquity - both on the slope of Mt. Morrone, the major peak in the moutnain backdrop for Sulmona; and the nearby Abbazia Santo Spirito, begun by Celestine V as a chapel in 1241 and then enlarged to become a monastery.
The Mass site on Piazza Garibaldi is all set. Tomorrow, the casket of St. Pope Celestine V will be taken to the altar here, and Mons. Angelo Spina, the diocesan bishop, will say Mass. Today, the space was to be used all day for heaaring confessions.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/07/2010 21:23]