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Pope Benedict XVI visits the land of the Lord |
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Tuesday, 10 March 2009 |
Pope Benedict XVI officially announced on Sunday March 8th 2009 that he would pay a pilgrimage visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories from May 8th to 15th 2009.
This trip is the first one to the Pope to the Holy Land, the Vatican said, that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Jordanian capital, Amman, before heading to Jerusalem and Nazareth in Israel, and to Bethlehem, the Palestinian-administered city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
"I will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to ask the Lord, by visiting the places sanctified by his earthly passage, for the precious gift of unity and peace for the Middle East and for all humanity,"
Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square on Sunday.The coming visit will be the first by a Pope to the Holy Land since Pope John Paul II visited in 2000. |
