Pope Benedict XVI: Schedule for Meeting of Families in Milan
The programme of the Holy Father's forthcoming trip to Milan, Italy, for the Seventh
World Meeting of Families was published today. The meeting is due to last from Tuesday
29 May to Sunday 3 June and will have as its theme: "The Family: Work and Celebration".
Benedict XVI will be present for the last three days. The Holy Father will arrive
at Milan's Linate airport at 5 p.m. on Friday 1 June, where he will be welcomed by
the local authorities. At 5.30 p.m. he is due to meet citizens in the Piazza del Duomo
and deliver an address. At 7.30 p.m. he will visit La Scala opera house where a concert
is scheduled to be held in his honour. At 10 a.m. on Saturday 2 June the Holy Father
will celebrate Lauds and pronounce a meditation in the cathedral of Milan, in the
company of priests and religious. He will then travel by car to the city's San Siro
stadium for a meeting with young people who are due to receive Confirmation this year.
In the afternoon Benedict XVI is due to deliver an address before the local authorities.
At 8.30 p.m. he will move on to Milan's Parco Nord for the Feast of Testimonies of
the World Meeting of Families. On Sunday 3 June, Benedict XVI will preside at a
concelebration of the Eucharist, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the Parco Nord.
After praying the Angelus he will return to the archbishopric where, that afternoon,
he will meet with members of the "Milano Famiglie 2012" foundation and with the organisers
of his visit. At 5.30 p.m. the Holy Father will bid farewell to the authorities at
Linate airport before boarding his return flight to Rome. The World Meetings of
Families trace their origins back to 1981 when Blessed John Paul II promulgated the
Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris consortio" and established the Pontifical Council
for the Family. The first meeting was held in Rome in 1994 and they have been taking
place every three years since then. Their purpose is to celebrate the divine gift
of family, to bring families together to pray, and to increase understanding of the
role of the Christian family as a domestic Church and the basic cell of evangelisation.
(VIS)