Paul KeenanBusy schedule for May trip
The Vatican has issued the full itinerary for Pope Francis’ official visit to the Holy Land.
Travelling from Rome on May 24, the Pontiff will first arrive in Amman in Jordan where he will be greeted by King Abdullah and Queen Rania before meeting with refugees and young disabled people. During his time in Amman, the Pope will celebrate Mass at the International Stadium. On May 25, the Pontiff travels to the Palestinian Territory, where he will first address the Palestinian Authority and then celebrate open-air Mass at Manger Square in Bethlehem before undertaking his own private visit to the Grotto of the Nativity.
Afterwards, the Pope will dine with Palestinian families at the Franciscan Convent of Casa Nova ahead of a meeting with children of the Dehiyshe, Aida and Beit Jibrin refugee camps.
In the late afternoon, the Pope travels by helicopter to Tel Aviv in Israel for an onward journey to Jerusalem. There he will meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. At 7pm local time, the Pope attends an ecumenical meeting on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the meeting in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
May 26 sees the Pope visit the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Ahmad Hussein, ahead of visits to both the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the Western Wall. Numerous meetings, including with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, follow ahead of the Pontiff’s departure for Rome at 8.15pm Israeli time.