Pope’s November visit to Spain confirmed

(September 24, 2010) The Vatican on Friday officially confirmed Pope Benedict XVI’s two-day pastoral visit to Spain in November this year, during which he will the join a celebration in Santiago de Compostela and dedicate a church in Barcelona. The Vatican on confirmed the papal trip and released the details. The apostolic visit to Spain will begin on Saturday, Nov. 6, with the Pontiff arriving in Santiago de Compostela to celebrate the Holy Year there. The Holy Year is marked in the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela every time the July 25 feast of St. James the Apostle (called Santiago in Spanish) falls on a Sunday, such as this year. There the Holy Father will meet the royal dignitaries of the Principality of Asturias, preside over a prayer service in the cathedral and celebrate an open-air Mass in the adjoining square. That evening he will proceed to Barcelona, where the following morning he will celebrate Mass in the Church of Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), during which the rite fo dedication will take place.