Pope’s visit to Malta
(April 16, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI will be on a short pastoral visit to Malta, Saturday and Sunday, to celebrate the 1950th anniversary of the shipwreck of St. Paul in the tiny Mediterranean island. This weekend visit to Malta is the Pope’s first foreign visit outside Italy this year, and the 14th of his pontificate. Malta has a long Christian legacy which goes back to the times of St. Paul, known as the Apostles of the Gentiles because of his evangelizing work among non-Jews. St. Paul was shipwrecked in Malta in 60 AD on his way to Rome, as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 27 and 28. After three months in the island, during which he evangelized, he proceeded to Rome. Today, over 94% of the archipelago’s some 443,000 people is Catholic. During the pastoral visit of a little over 24 hours, Pope Benedict will deliver 5 discourses. After his arrival on Saturday evening he will pay a courtesy visit to Maltese president George Abela, and later during a visit to a grotto linked to St. Paul he will meet Maltese missionaries. On Sunday he will celebrate an open air Mass and meet young people before returning to Rome. Pope Benedict has four more foreign trips scheduled this year, all in Europe: Portugal, Cyprus, Britain and Spain.
| All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©. |