VATICAN CITY, APR 19, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was the itinerary for Pope John Paul's six-day Jubilee pilgrimage in Greece, Syria and Malta in the footsteps of St. Paul Apostle. The May 4 to 9 trip by the Holy Father, during which he is scheduled to speak on 18 occasions, will be his 93rd apostolic trip outside of Italy.
The Pope is scheduled to depart Rome at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 4 and, after a two-hour flight, will arrive in Athens where he will go directly to the Presidential Palace for a welcome ceremony in the garden and a courtesy call on the president of the Hellenic Republic.
At 1:30 p.m. he will go to the Orthodox Archdiocesan Palace of Athens and pay a courtesy visit to His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and primate of Greece. An hour later he will arrive at the apostolic nunciature in Athens and meet with and address the Catholic Bishops of Greece. At 5:45 p.m. the Pope will visit the Catholic Cathedral of Athens and at 6:30 will make a pilgrimage to the Areopagus of Athens in memory of St. Paul. At 7:45 p.m. he will return to the nunciature and His Beatitude Christodoulos will make a courtesy call on the Pope.
On Saturday, May 5 at 8:15 a.m. the Pope will preside at Mass at the Sport Palace in the complex of the Olympic Center of Athens. At 11:45 there will be a farewell ceremony at the Athens Airport and the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, Syria.
A welcome ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the International Airport of Damascus, during which the Holy Father will give a speech. At 5:45 p.m. that day he will arrive at the Presidential Palace and pay a courtesy visit to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic. Just over one hour later the Pope will arrive at the Greek-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus where there will be an ecumenical meeting and a speech by the Pope.
On Sunday, May 6, at 9:30 a.m. John Paul II will preside at a Eucharistic celebration in the Abbassyin Stadium of Damascus. Following this he will recite the Regina Coeli and make some brief remarks. After Mass he is scheduled to go to the Greek-Catholic Patriarchate of Damascus where, at 1 p.m., a meeting will commence with the patriarchs and bishops of Syria.
At 5 p.m. the Holy Father is scheduled to arrive at the Syrian-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to the clergy, religious and Christian laity of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches of Syria. At 6:15 p.m., the Pope will go to the Omayyad Great Mosque of Damascus for a visit to the St. John the Baptist Memorial and a meeting with Muslim leaders, whom he will address.
On Monday, May 7 there will be a private Mass at 7:30 a.m. in the chapel of the nunciature in Damascus. At 9:15 Pope John Paul is scheduled to visit the Church of St. Paul on the Wall in the Bab Kissan gate of the Old Walls of Damascus. Following this he will go to the St. Paul Memorial of Damascus.
At 10:15 a.m. the Pope will depart by car for the one-hour trip to Qunaytra where he will visit the Greek-Orthodox Church. A prayer for peace is scheduled at the Church in the Golan Heights. At noon the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, arriving at the nunciature around 1 p.m. At 5:40 p.m. he will arrive at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to youth.
Tuesday, May 8, John Paul II will again say a private morning Mass in the chapel of the nunciature. At 11 a.m. there will be farewell ceremony at the Damascus Airport and the Pope will leave a half-hour later for Malta.
The Pope is scheduled to arrive at Malta's Gudja International Airport at 2 p.m. where there will be a welcome ceremony and speeches. At 6 p.m. that same day he will go to the Presidential Palace in the Maltese capital of Valletta and pay a courtesy call on the president of the republic.
Wednesday, May 9 is the final day of the Holy Father's Jubilee pilgrimage. At 9:30 a.m. he will preside at a concelebrated Mass with beatifications at the "Granaries" of Floriana. At 12:45 the Pope will go the apostolic nunciature in Rabat where he will meet with the bishops of Malta.
At 4:30 that afternoon he will arrive at the Church of the Center of the Society of Christian Doctrine in Hamrun where he will visit the tomb of the Venerable Fr. George Preca and meet with and speak to the members of the "Societas Doctrinae Cristianae" in the Center's auditorium.
At 6:30 p.m. the Pope will go to Gudja International Airport where he will depart for Rome at 7 p.m., arriving at Ciampino Airport after a flight of one and a half hours.
Vatican Information Service
19. april 2001