I just realized that we are now just a year and two weeks away from the next international WYD to be held in Rio July 23-28, 2013... It will be a major effort for our beloved Papino who will have turned 86 by then. And yet, there's talk of a second country to visit at that time... Lord, keep him healthy and strong!
Panama, Colombia and Chile
vying to he visited by Pope
enroute to WYD 2013 in Rio
Rome, Italy, Jul 6, 2012 (CNA/Europa Press) - Pope Benedict XVI could make a stopover in a Spanish-speaking Latin American country during his visit to the region for World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro.
According to reports in the Italian media, three countries - Panama, Colombia and Chile - are vying for the chance to host the Pontiff as he makes his way to Brazil next year, in what will be his second visit there as Pope.
The Colombian government has already extended an invitation to the Pope, which was echoed by a group of bishops making their ad limina visit to the Holy See on June 22. According to the Italian daily
La Stampa, the Pope responded, “God will decide.”
The newspaper also reported that Panama is also interested in hosting a papal visit in 2013 on the 500th anniversary of the creation of the first diocese in the Americas, Santa Maria La Antigua in Panama.
The bishops of Panama have convened a special Jubilee Year which will begin this year on November 28 to celebrate the occasion. The prefect of the Congregation for the Bishops and the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, will be the Holy Father’s special envoy for the event.
La Stampa reports that Panama’s vice chancellor, Francisco Alvarez De Soto, invited the Pope to visit his country when he met the Pope in May. The Holy Father’s response was once again, “It all depends on God.
Chile’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Fernando Zegers Santa Cruz, issued his own invitation to the Pope on June 20, repeating the invitation made by President Sebastian Pinera in March of 2011 to visit Chile.
The success of the Pope’s visit to Mexico and Cuba in March of this year makes the possibility for an additional stopover in Latin America more likely.