VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's itinerary for his May 12-13 apostolic trip to Fatima, the 92nd foreign trip of his pontificate, was made public yesterday afternoon.
He is scheduled to leave Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 12 for Lisbon, arriving in early evening in Portugal's capital where he will be met by and have a personal meeting with the president of the republic. Shortly before 7 he will go by helicopter to Fatima, landing at a soccer field named for him. From there he will go to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
On Saturday May 13, at 9:30 a.m. the Holy Father will celebrate Mass on the esplanade of the shrine, in front of the basilica, during which he will beatify Jacinta and Francesco, the shepherd children of Fatima who, along with their cousin Lucia, now a Carmelite nun, saw the Blessed Virgin on the spot where the shrine is today. Mary appeared to the children six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917.
Lucia was ten when Mary appeared. Francisco was 9 and died at the age of 11 in 1919. Jacinta was 7 at the time of the apparitions; she died in 1920. Both children are buried in the basilica at Fatima.
Pope John Paul is scheduled to leave Portugal at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.
Vatican Information Service