Pope to attend World Meeting of Families in Milan

(Feb. 29, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI will attend the World Meeting of Families 2012 to be held in the northern Italian city of Milan in June. The Archdiocese of Milan, which will host the World Meeting of Families said that Pope Benedict would spend three days in Milan, celebrating the event's closing Mass, and would also attend a concert at the world famous La Scala theater. The World Meeting of Families to be held May 30-June 3, includes family activities, as well as workshops and speeches for theologians and people involved in the pastoral care of families. The theme of the meeting,
co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family, is: "The Family: Work and Celebration." Pope Benedict will arrive in Milan the afternoon of June 1 and address the city's residents in the main square. Afterward, he will attend a concert in his honour at the city’s famous opera house La Scala . On June 2, the Pope will pray with priests and religious, meet with city government officials and then preside over the evening of testimony and celebration that traditionally is part of the World Meeting of Families. He will celebrate the closing Mass on Sunday June 3, then meet with the event's organizers and volunteers before returning to the Vatican the same evening. The World Meeting of Families, which was initiated in 1994 in response to the Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris Consortio” has been held since then every three years.