Pope Publishes Program for Malta Trip
(10 Feb 10 - RV) February 10th is a special day in Malta, it’s a holy day of obligation, because it commemorates the island nation’s first encounter with Christianity.
On February 10th each year the people gather in the capital Valetta to mark the anniversary of Saint Paul's Shipwreck on their shores, 1,950 years ago.
A procession carries his statue through the streets of the capital accompanied by marching bands and fireworks, remembering the Saint's miracles after he took refuge on the island.
The Apostle to the Gentiles is considered to be the spiritual father of the Maltese. His shipwreck is popularly considered as the greatest event in the nation's history.
Pope Benedict XVI chose February 10th to publish the program for his first pilgrimage to the shores of the Mediterranean island on April 17th and 18th next. He chose the feast of the Saint’s Shipwreck because that is the principal theme of this his 14th Voyage outside Italy.
Pope Benedict will arrive in Malta on the afternoon of Saturday, April 17, and after paying a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic, he will travel directly to the Grotto of St Paul in Rabat. According to tradition, St Paul rejected the comfortable surroundings offered to him by the islanders and chose to live in this subterranean grotto for the three months he remained on the island.
On Sunday, April 18th, Pope Benedict will preside over Mass in Granaries Square Floriana. In the afternoon, he will travel by boat to Valletta Port for the meeting with young people, on the quays before his farewell ceremony at Malta International Airport and his return to Rome.
This will be the third papal village to the archipelago after those of John Paul II in 1990 and 2001.
Malta, which achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, is home to 410 thousand people, 98% of whom are Catholic.
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