Last week, I had a rather substantial post containing 1) the Archbishop of Compostela's announcement of the program for the Holy Father's one-day visit on November 5, as a pilgrim during the current Ano Jacobeo, a Holy Year honoring the Apostle St. James (Santiago), patron of Compostela and Spain, and 2) a ZENIT article reporting what else the Archbishop said in a news conference on July 6.
OR, in its 7/12-7/13 issue, is reporting the same items with the news peg that the feast day of St. James this year is imminent... For lack of other news items, I am translating the OR article anyway. Besides, I have found new visuals for the Ano Jacobeo.
Before visiting Barcelona,
Benedict XVI will visit
Compostela for the
Holy Year of St. James
Translated from
the 7/12-7/13 of
Benedict XVI's visit to Santiago de Compostela is four months away. But the fervor of anticipation is clear in the capital of Galicia - the centuries-long destination of Europe's most famous pilgrimage route, the 'camino de Santiago' or St. James's road.
The historic medieval center of Santiago de Compostela itself, around the Cathedral housing the tomb of the Apostle, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The fervor is also due to the impending Feast of St. James on July 25. The fact that it falls on a Sunday this year is the reason for the current Holy Year. (The next Holy Year will be in 2021).
The Archbishop of Santiago, Mons. Julian Barrio Barrio, said at a news conference to present the Pope's program last week that "this will be the first time that a Pope will come to Compostela expressly to honor St. James - and in a jubilee year".
John Paul II's first visit to Compostela in 1982 also took place during an Ano Jacobeo, but it was made during his first apostolic visit to Spain that covered a lot of cities. (He returned to Compostela for World Youth Day in 1989.)
Bishop Barrio pointed out that this time, Benedict XVI expressed his personal desire to pray at the tomb of St. James.
[The Pope's visit to Spain this year - literally 'flying visits' to Compostela and Barcelona on Nov. 6 and 7, respectively - was announced simultaneously by the Bishops of Compostela and Barcelona, and by the Vatican, last March 3.]
Shortly thereafter, Mons. Barrios issued a pastoral letter to his flock, saying, "Through this pastoral letter in which I share your joy over the Pope's visit, I wish to reiterate to the Holy Father our gratitude for his kindness in accepting our invitation to be among us, joining the pilgrims who have visited and will continue to visit us during this Holy Year".
"The presence of the Pope among us will give new life to our spiritual commitment. The bond of unity, charity and peace embodied by the Vicar of Christ on earth is a source of spiritual richness for all the local Churches."
He concluded the letter exhorting the faithful "to keep in your prayers the intentions of the Pope in his governance of the Church as the Successor of Peter, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother and the Apostle James, and to ask for abundant spiritual fruits for the diocese and for all the Church in Spain".
The archbishop described the three main events on the Pope's short visit:
First, his arrival at Lavacolla airport around mid-morning, where there will be a brief welcoming ceremony by the Spanish royal family, Church, civilian and military authorities.
Then the Pope will travel to the city in the Popemobile. "We would like the Pope, from his first experience of going through our streets, to feel the sense of our best hospitality, and so I expect that there will be many people who will welcome him along this initial route."
The cathedral will be his first destination. "He will enter through the Puerta del Azabacheria (on the north facade of the Cathedral). He will spend a few minutes in prayer at the Chapel of Communion and then at the spot where tradition says the bones of the Apostle repose. He will then address some 700 persons inside the Church - children, aged and sick persons."
He will also participate in the always spectacular incensing rite using the giant censer (the Botafumeiro) hanging from the ceiling of the cathedral and swung to and fro by an intricate mechanism.
After lunch and a brief rest in the Archbishop's Palace, the Pope will say afternoon Mass at the vast Plaza Obradoiro facing the front entrance to the Cathedral. After the Mass, he will leave for Barcelona.
[In the Catalan capital, Spain's second largest city, the Pope will inaugurate and consecrate the Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudi's masterpiece begun in 1936 but left unfinished. Completion was resumed in the 1960s entirely through private contributions.]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/07/2010 17:30]