Mayor of Bethlehem speaks about upcoming papal visit to the West Bank town

(Vatican Radio)  One of the key stops on Pope Francis’s 3-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. The highlight of the Pope’s 6-hour stay in Bethlehem this Sunday will be the celebration of an open-air Mass in the town’s Manger Square, situated outside the Church of the Nativity.

The current mayor of Bethlehem is Vera Baboun, a Catholic university professor and mother of 5 children.  She spoke recently  to Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges about her expectations surrounding this papal visit.  

Listen to the interview with Mayor Baboun: 

Asked about the importance of this papal visit and her own expectations, Baboun says the people of Bethlehem “badly” need peace and she believes Pope Francis’ visit there sends an important message of solidarity: i.e.  that they “don’t stand alone.”  She also said the papal pilgrimage to Bethlehem is the “mostly highly-needed human visit ever witnessed.”