The archbishop Jan Graubner, president of the Bishops Conference of the Czech Republic, received a letter from the Vatican secretary of state, card. Tarcisio Bertone, about the invitation made to Benedict XVI to visit the country on the occasion of the celebrations for the 1100th anniversary of the birth of the national patron saint, Saint Wenceslas, due to be held in September 2008. The letter, as told by a note from the Czech Bishops Conference, was given through the Apostolic Nunciature to Prague and contains the Pope’s thanks for the invitation as well as his renunciation to go because of his many previous engagements, such as his trip to the USA in April 2008, to Sydney from 15th to 20th July for the WYD, and to Lourdes in autumn for the Jubilee of the apparitions of the Virgin.
