Pope Benedict travels to the Italian region of Tuscany Sunday on Sunday 13th May where
he will make a one day visit to Arezzo, La Verna and Sansepolcro, three towns with
a long history of monasticism and contemplative life.
The Holy Father will
celebrate an outdoor Mass and pray the Regina Coeli in the "Il Prato" park in Arezzo
after which he will make a private visit to the cathedral of San Donato. In the afternoon,
he will visit the shrine of La Verna where St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata.
Sunday
evening, Pope Benedict will fly by helicopter to Sansepolcro where he will visit the
local cathedral which houses a famous crucifix known as the "Santo Volto" (Holy Face),
considered to be one of the oldest images of the clothed and crucified Christ. He
will then meet the inhabitants of the town before returning to the Vatican the same
night.
One of those who will be greeting the Pope in Arezzo Sunday is a young
Pakistani university student named Sultan who says he’s enthusiastic about meeting
Pope Benedict for the second time. The first, he recalls, was on a visit to the Vatican
last March when the Arezzo-based lay community he’s a part of was received by the
Pope in audience.
“It’s like something special for me because being a Muslim
and being from Pakistan, it is obviously something big to meet the Pope and the leader
of the Catholic Church. I’ve always wanted to meet him before” Sultan told Vatican
Radio.
Sultan is one of some 25 young people from war-torn countries who live
together in a lay community in Arezzo called Rondine, the Citadel of Peace. For almost
two decades, the association has hosted young people like Sultan from India, Israel,
Palestine, Lebanon, the Caucasus, the Balkans and other regions in conflict in an
effort to bring down barriers of distrust and misunderstanding. While living together
in community and pursuing degrees at Italian universities, the students forge lasting
friendships with would-be enemies.
In this interview with Tracey McClure, Sultan
says he’d like to ask Pope Benedict what he thinks about Islam. He also shares what
it felt like when he first arrived in this predominantly Christian country and to
live in a community with women and people of different faiths – not to mention would-be
“enemies.” He expresses dismay at the way many people in his native Pakistan stereotype
Christians as “non hygienic” and “not on the same level” as Muslims and conveys his
concern that education can be manipulated to “brainwash” people into believing their
neighbours are their foes…